Mutare City council’s engineering department is finalizing feasibility tests for a localised district metering to curb perennial revenue losses from unmetered water as indicated in successive Auditor general reports.
In her 2019 Local authorities report, Auditor General, Mildred Chiri said Mutare was only billing 43 percent of treated water pumped into the system due to dilapidated infrastructure.
Mutare Mayor Blessing Tandi says the resurgence of service delivery, particularly water efficiency attributes to measures put in place by council to address water loss challenges.
Tandi was addressing Mutare Press Club members, organised in conjunction with Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) and TellZim Trust, a media public interest organisation.
“We are finalizing the introduction of district meters to ensure efficiency in the distribution of water as we are currency at seventy percent of efficiency in terms of hours supplied daily,” said Tandi.
ZIMCODD campaigns manager Angellah Mandoreba called for fiscal reform in local authorities.
“This is a wake-up call for local authorities to put in place fiscal reforms so that when devolution is implemented we will be on a good footing. Can we really deliver our mandate?
“Public sector auditing remains very important in assessing the extent of local authorities’ preparedness to run their affairs when devolution is implemented,” said Mandoreba.
ZIMCODD is running a public sector accountability campaign #HowFar engaging citizens to demand implementation of promises, including mandatory address of financial irregularities exposed by the Auditor General report.
Mutare city council despite supplying water 15 hours a day, at seventy percent efficiency, still fails to service the whole city as nonfunctional meters, old and dilapidated system accounts for significant water leakages.
Council authorities are struggling to control leakages in Sakubva, the city’s oldest high density residential suburbs, where water and sewer structures, have running water through the day.
