THE Bulawayo City Council has come under fire for its
continued water shedding regime after the local authority increased the
shedding period by a further 24 hours to today.
This means Bulawayo residents have gone for a total of six
days without any water supplies with the local authority claiming it is
conducting major rehabilitation works at its water treatment plants.
In a notice the local authority’s Town Clerk, Mr
Christopher Dube, said council had been forced to increase the original 96-hour
water cut by a further 24 hours due to some unforeseen challenges.
“The City of Bulawayo would like to advise members of the
public that the on-going major rehabilitation works at Criterion Water
Treatment Plant funded under the Bulawayo Water and Sewerage Services
Improvement Project (BWSSIP) being supported by the African Development Bank
are still on-going. The works which involve replacement of valves, pumps and
all associated civil works could not be completed as per the advertised 96-hour
shutdown.
“The contractor experienced some set-backs due to some
unforeseen challenges on site. This will result in water supplies interruption
previously scheduled to end on Saturday 6 July 2019 at 07:30 hours being
extended to Sunday, 7 July at 18:00 hours,” reads part of the notice.
Mr Dube said some areas will, however, receive water
supplies for a shorter period as works continue with the shedding likely to
either be further increased or decreased as per the progress of the
rehabilitation work.
“The City of Bulawayo would like to advise that some areas
will, however, receive water supplies for a shorter period as works continue at
Criterion Water Treatment Works.
The public is advised to collect enough water while we
rebuild the reservoir levels.
“Please note that the programme is subject to change if the
current works at the treatment plant and reservoir situation on the ground
improves or deteriorates beyond the stipulated period. Residents are urged to
conserve water and use alternative safe sources for non-potable uses especially
boreholes,” he said.
However, residents have blasted the local authority saying
while the rehabilitation works could be genuine, residents were not given a
prior warning resulting in them being grossly affected and exposed to a number
of diseases that thrive due to the unavailability of water.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association co-ordinator Mr
Emmanuel Ndlovu said when the local authority initially announced the 96-hour
shedding period it was a sudden notice and most residents were caught off guard
hence were now struggling to get water.
“While we appreciate that they are servicing the treatment
plants the danger now is that there was no prior warning.
Just take a walk in the western areas and you will find
that there are people looking for water everywhere, people were honestly caught
off guard.
“The local authority should also not forget that there are
a number of diseases that can easily spread due to the unavailability of water,
further this is worsened by them constantly saying that boreholes are
themselves not hundred percent safe.
We remain hopeful that the local authority will remain true
to their words and ensure that supplies are restored soonest,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairman Mr
Winos Dube said the situation was bad with residents clamouring just to get the
now precious liquid.
He said the local authority should have planned their
rehabilitation to go stage by stage instead of implementing the wholesome
project at once as it has left residents stranded.
“To be honest what the local authority is doing is
inhumane, they knew all along that they were meant to carry out this
rehabilitation and should have planned for it such that the cuts should have
occurred stage by stage.
“People are falling sick out here and council is just
turning a blind eye, it is worrying and for some of us leaders we are left
wondering what the local authority is doing to solve this,” said Mr Dube.
Yesterday most residents were queuing at boreholes to fetch
water as the situation continued to deteriorate. Sunday News
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