THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) yesterday indefinitely
shutdown water supplies to the entire city to stabilise water levels at its
reservoirs, worsening residents’ water woes.
Only hospitals, industry, mines and the Central Business
District have been exempted from the blanket shutdown.
The BCC will only restore supplies when water capacity in
its reservoirs has improved to normal, Bulawayo Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube
said.
Since the municipality embarked on major rehabilitation
works under the Bulawayo Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project
(BWSSIP) funded by the African Development Bank last week, some suburbs last
had running tap water on July 1.
The BWSSIP programme is meant to improve municipal water
supply and sanitation services in the city to improve the health and social
well-being of residents.
Mr Dube said the municipality has embarked on citywide
water shutdown to allow its reservoirs to pump enough water to meet its demand.
“The City of
Bulawayo would like to advise members of the public that we will be closing the
whole City until the system stabilises. Water supplies were re-opened on
Sunday, 7 July 2019 and Monday, 8 July 2019 to allow for temporary relief following
the shutdown to facilitate rehabilitation of the Criterion Water Works,” he
said.
“The City of Bulawayo advises residents that the works are
still ongoing and we are currently operating at 50 percent capacity, with
efforts to finalise the current works as a matter of urgency. The very high
water demand of 157 ML vis a vis production of 105 ML has resulted in key
Reservoirs dropping to below critical level that is Criterion and Magwegwe
Reservoirs. It is anticipated that this shutdown will allow for the system to
stabilise after which we will resume the 48-hour water shedding programme.”
Mr Dube said council was aware that some suburbs had not
received water supplies in more than a week and would supply them with bowsers.
“We are aware of all the areas which have not yet received
water and we will be supplying these with water bowsers. Residents are
encouraged to liaise with their councillors as well as the City of Bulawayo
Call Centre.
“Bulawayo City Council encourages residents to desist from
vandalising water pipelines as this has an impact on water supply throughout
the City. Residents are urged to conserve water whenever supplies are restored.
We once again apologise for the inconvenience caused and we are working flat
out to ensure that the system stabilises as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Mr Dube said load shedding was exacerbating water cuts as
the council cannot pump as much as it can.
“BCC further advises that due to electricity challenges in
the country, the Zimbabwe electricity Transmission and Distribution Company has
further advised BCC to reduce the number of pumps for water supply. This means
a reduction in the water getting into the City,” he said.
Meanwhile, water and power outages have crippled activities
at schools in the city with some now resorting to the use of buckets to flash
toilets.
In an interview yesterday, Bulawayo Provincial Education
Director Mrs Olicah Kaira said thousands of learners have been affected by
water and power cuts at schools.
Learners are reportedly missing many lessons that require
water and electricity, especially practical subjects, at a time when schools
are preparing for mid-year examinations.
For subjects such as Food and Nutrition, water and
electricity is required while Fashion and Fabrics requires electricity for
pupils to use sewing machines, irons and other appliances.
Pupils also need electricity to power up machinery used in
subjects such as Woodwork, Metal Work, Computer Science, Biology, Physics and
Chemistry.
Students with agricultural projects such as gardens require
water to tend their gardening projects and also need water to prepare feed for
chickens and for dressing the birds.
Some schools are using buckets to fetch water for flushing
and cleaning toilets. Teachers and students who spoke to The Chronicle said
toilets were unusable. Also affected are students on the night school programme
as there would be no power in the evenings.
Mrs Kaira said a number of projects for Ordinary Level
candidates who are set to sit for November public examinations would be
compromised if the water and power cuts continued. “We are trying our best to
ensure that we run the schools efficiently under these circumstances but it is
extremely difficult. We are making use of bowsers, drums and Jojo tanks. Where
we have boreholes schools run on boreholes. It is not easy because it involves
a lot of manual work,” she said.
“Agricultural projects, poultry rearing, school feeding and
general health care is compromised. The weekly cuts are having a toll on
institutions in general. Operations are compromised especially with power cuts
when schools need to run the mid-year exams. Computers and printers are not
working. Schools need water and electricity to be fully functional”. Chronicle
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