The Morgan Tsvangirai led Movement for Democratic Change has piled pressure on City of Harare and government of Zimbabwe to prioritize the provision of adequate water treatment chemicals to avert potential health crisis in Harare.
In an interview with 263Chat, MDC-T Spokesperson, Obert Gutu said the onus was on the government through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to prioritize and allocate foreign currency towards procurement of water treatment chemicals by the City of Harare.
“The City of Harare is Zimbabwe’s largest urban authority with a population of around four million people in its metropolitan outreach. Against all odds, the City of Harare has been battling to provide clean and safe water to all the residents of the greater Harare metropolitan area.
“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has the sole responsibility of prioritizing and allocating foreign currency to all the sectors of the country’s economy. As such, it is beyond the mandate of the city authorities to decide how much foreign currency should be allocated for the importation of the necessary water treatment chemicals,” said the party’s spokesperson, Obert Gutu.
In some residential suburbs such as Kuwadzana and Budiriro 5 residents have reported receiving ‘greenish and brownish’ water while areas such as Mabvuku and Tafara have not had running water for more than 15 years.
“The RBZ should appreciate that the provision of clean and safe water is just as critical as the the provision of foreign currency to import fuel and other essential commodities into the country,” added Gutu.
He called on the city fathers to be wary of cholera and typhoid outbreak saying the water situation needs to be closely monitored especially this rainy season.
“We don’t want a situation whereby the residents of the city of Harare will be susceptible to acquiring water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid as a result of failure to access clean and safe water,” Gutu said.
Posting on her twitter handle, aspiring Mt pleasant legislator, Fadzayi Mahere called on residents not to pay their bills without water supply.
“I still don’t get people who pay for water they don’t receive. I have no city water. I refuse to pay that charge and there is nothing they can do to force me to. I will ignore their bogus Wellcash notices and deal with them in court if ever they have the temerity to sue!,” she said.
Presenting the State of City Address, early this year, Mayor of Harare, Councilor Bernard Manyenyeni urged residents to exercise caution which he said is failing to pass the eye-test.
“The water coming out of our taps is failing to pass the eye-test in some areas. There have been numerous pictures and video clips circulating showing our water being brownish and sometimes greenish.
“It is therefore fair to share with you all that while we asset that we are doing the best to fix the quality issues, we apologize and request our consumers to exercise caution until such a time as total quality is assured,” said Manyenyeni.
