Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Mabasa Sasa
1 December 2008
opinion
Harare — THE Good Book records one of Jesus Christ's first public miracles being how he turned water into wine for a wedding party after their own supplies had run out before people were ready to end the festivities.
There has been a lot of debate about the significance of this miracle with some people saying it is justification for imbibing the produce of the vine.
They tend to back their argument by contending that the first act Noah performed after the great deluge was to plant a vineyard.
Others contend that the "wine" talked of here is not the intoxicating stuff we call "wine" today.
Despite the multiplicity of arguments surrounding this miracle, believers all agree on one thing: Jesus took water and turned it into something else.
According to Biblical historiography, this event took place some 2 000 years ago in a far-away land in the Middle East.
And today in tiny Zimbabwe, thousands of years and miles away from that miracle, the people of this country have in a way performed this Messianic wonder all on their own.
Water taps have virtually run dry in just about every urban centre while alcohol imported from South Africa, Mozambique and Lord knows where else is flowing on the streets.
It does not take a very observant person to see that the quantities of intoxicating beverages being consumed today are inversely proportional to the supply of piped water.
The abundance of these beverages all over the country is directly attributable to the use of foreign currency as acceptable tender in economic transactions and this falls under that huge umbrella of commercial activities widely referred to as "Bacossi".
The more irreverent in our midst have gone further and said not only have Zimbabweans turned water into alcohol, but that Jesus also performed an act of "Bacossi" when feeding the 5 000 with five loaves and two fish.
But enough of that.
What is quite strange is that today we have a situation where there is more alcohol in the country than water when history tells us that the Babylonian civilisation had piped water long before Christ performed his miracle and saved the thirsty party-goers.
Are there really any excuses or reasons why the people of this country are living without access to clean water and being exposed to the horrors of cholera?
Perhaps a little contextualisation is necessary.
While two-thirds of the Earth's surface is covered in water, the inescapable reality is that it is unsuitable for ready consumption and there just is not enough fresh water to go around.
Of the fresh water available to humanity, nearly 70 percent of that is trapped in polar ice caps and other as yet unexploitable places.
Only 1 percent of the water available on the planet is usable by humans.
Currently, 1,1 billion people across the globe do not have access to safe water sources and with increased industrialisation and the need for greater agricultural output, water stress is increasing.
From 1950 to the present, global water use has trebled and it is predicted that in the next two decades, three billion people will not have access to safe drinking water.
Some predictions have it that even the United States and China will in the near future experience water shortages.
The facts are grim and, as such, it becomes difficult to avoid the conclusion that sooner or later, nations are going to go to war with each other over the issue of water.
To draw from the water-alcohol analogy again, American writer Mark Twain put it thus: "Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over."
The spectre of this happening is not far-fetched at all and Egypt's iconic leader Anwar al-Sadat once remarked: "The only thing that can take Egypt to war again is water."
Another warning, this time from Ismail Serageldin, a former World Bank vice president.
In a 1995 interview with Newsweek magazine, he said: "If the wars of the (20th) Century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water."
But what has all this have to do with Zimbabwe and its population of a mere 11 million people?
Water is a precious commodity whose value is appreciating every day and this nation is seeing this directly through the water shortages and the cholera outbreak.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority is in charge of water supply in most of the major urban areas in the country and if we are all to be honest with each other, the parastatal, like others around us, has failed.
Many stories have been told about obscure under-the-table wheeling and dealing that resulted in Zinwa getting oversight of this key responsibility, but for now all that does not matter.
Nor does it really matter right now that people are disaffected by Zinwa's response to the present crisis because the blame game can be done later.
After all, Zinwa can legitimately point out that it does not have the requisite water treatment chemicals because of the sanctions and they would be very right on that one.
In 2005, the World Bank said Zimbabwe needed US$10 billion for the rehabilitation and refurbishment of its water and sanitation infrastructure.
The City of Harare alone was told that it would have to invest over US$100 million in order to ensure a steady supply of water to residents.
While all those huge sums of money were being thrown in our faces, we were also being told that we could not access assistance for infrastructure development from the World Bank itself.
So right now people can scream all they want about how Zinwa has failed and how sanctions have led to this catastrophe, but what is needed is a solution.
The fact is this is not a Zimbabwe problem and it is pleasing to note that officials from this country and from South Africa have already agreed on this.
The region should be pooling resources on this one because it is quite feasible that the present outbreak will spread all over Southern Africa and this will undeniably strain relations between Sadc members.
There is no reason why regional governments and private companies should not come together with intervention packages that guarantee the health and safety of this part of the continent.
Surely, history will look at us not too kindly when a latter day generation discovers that in 2008 the people of Zimbabwe imported more alcohol than water treatment chemicals!
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what is ZINWA? Are these not Mugabe's Organisations? Mhunu ane munyama iyeye, chese chaabata hapana chinobuda namwari chaiye. Zimbabwe yamuramba murume uyu. Dai arimumwe azvisiya, because I see a situation where as usual he will blame the west for cholera, as blame games are his province. He is ever a struggling man ever mourning. Woti pane vamwe varume onongobowa chete, but that was self inflicted no one now cares anymore because everyone is fed up. RESIGN MUGABE Water and Infrastructural Development Deputy Minister Walter Mzembi and the Minister of State for Policy Implementation Webster Shamu, will never save your skin because people who are dying now you will be held accountable.
After years of neglect the Zimbabwe Water Authority probably did need $10 billion to revamp it. Why were investments not being made from 1980 onwards. Why was it all left till the structure had collapsed. Obviously this is all past history and solutions need to be found. Should we now trust ZINWA with the funds to do it, that is a question that the people should ask. It would appear the funds they had been allocated have disapeared and now there is no water to be had. Fuel, Food, Electricty, schooling, Hospitals and now water. What is next, or rather what is left?