SW Radio Africa (London)
Tererai Karimakwenda
18 July 2007
A health risk warning has been issued to residents of the city of Bulawayo after the authorities cut off the supply of water. Pathisa Nyathi, spokesperson for the Bulawayo city council said the warning was the direct result of the water crisis they are experiencing after decommissioning another dam on Sunday. Nyathi said there would be no water in the country's second largest city until 3:30 PM on Friday. He warned residents to save some water in clean and covered containers for use especially to flush toilets and to wash their hands afterwards during the cut off times. Nyathi described the measures as precautionary, saying the city was trying to avoid a breakout of water-borne diseases due to the crisis.
Nyathi said out of a total of 5 dams, the city had decommissioned one of only three remaining dams because water levels were too low. The largest dam, named Insiza Dam, only supplies 49,000 cubic meters of water daily. This is one third of the at least 140,000 cubic meters Bulawayo needs every day.
This is the first health warning the city has issued due to water problems. Nyathi said there were short term plans to address the situation temporarily, but admitted long term plans were a long time from being actualised. He said the long tern solution lies in a dam being planned at least 40 kilometres from Bulawayo and pipes would have to be laid down after construction of the dam.
Nyathi said water will be available for only seven hours every two days, meaning careful storage of water was essential. The Zimbabwe Water Authority (ZINWA) took over water management in Harare, Bulawayo and other urban areas last year. The water crisis has continued to worsen and experts say government does not have the resources to fix the infrastructure. Expensive water treatment chemicals are also believed to be in short supply and there have been allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
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