The mayor of Gweru councillor Hamutendi Kombayi said some residents were now reluctant to pay their water bills because council is failing to provide them with the precious liquid hence the residents’ debt has ballooned to $12 billion.
Last week, the local authority released a water rationing
schedule stipulating that residents in many areas in the city will receive
water once a week.
There are, however, suburbs in high-lying areas that have
gone for more than three months without water forcing residents to resort to
unsafe water sources.
Clr Kombayi urged management to prioritise the provision of
water to residents.
The local authority is pumping 37 megalitres of water a day
against a daily demand of about 80 megalitres and as such it has been forced to
ration the limited supplies.
There are reports that the council bought wrong pumps hence
it is failing to pump enough water to meet the city’s daily water consumption.
Speaking during a recent council meeting, Clr Kombayi said
management must avail more resources to the provision of water.
“As council, I think we should channel more resources
towards the provision of water because residents cannot pay for water which
they are not receiving,” he said.
Clr Kombayi said Gweru residents should not suffer because
of council’s mistake of buying wrong pumps.
He said the bulk of the city’s revenue was from water bills
but very few residents were paying because council was not supplying the water.
“We are owed about $12 billion because most residents have
stopped paying their bills. Management should assure residents of regular water
supplies,” he said.
Ward 14 Clr Danny Ndava said it was disturbing to note that
council management was content with pumping a meagre 37 mega litres against a
demand of 80 megalitres.
Director of Engineering Services, Mr Masauso Store told the
meeting that the situation has been worsened by power outages.
“We have asked for a dedicated line to Gwenoro Dam to
address this problem,” he said. Herald
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