Published by the government of Zimbabwe
1 December 2008
Harare — WATER woes persisted in Harare yesterday as almost all the city's suburbs, industrial areas and the central business district had no supplies.
This forced businesses and Government institutions to send workers back home by lunchtime while others remained with critical staff only.
Residents criss-crossed the city in search of water while some Good Samaritans with boreholes at their residences and institutions such as schools, sports clubs, clinics and business came to the rescue of the residents by allowing them to draw supplies from their premises.
Some residents were also observed collecting water from unprotected sources despite the cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 390 lives since August.
Government yesterday met business as efforts to find a lasting solution continue.
The meeting, chaired by Water and Infrastructural Development Deputy Minister Cde Walter Mzembi and attended by the Minister of State for Policy Implementation Cde Webster Shamu, comes amid concern by business that they were being forced to stop operating because of lack of water.
Speaking to journalists before the meeting, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Mr Kumbirai Katsande urged Government to expeditiously find a lasting solution to the water woes.
"The water crisis is a serious issue as business has no option but to close shop for the day. We have had to send workers home and this would have a negative impact on the country's economy," he said.
Mr Katsande urged responsible officials to come out in the open so that authorities know the correct situation on the ground.
Zinwa has attributed the current water cuts to chemical shortages despite having received funding from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Zinwa spokesperson Mr Tsungirirai Shoriwa yesterday said some chemicals had started trickling in.
He said they expected production at Morton Jaffray Waterworks, Harare's main water treatment plant, to resume yesterday afternoon.
"We expect Morton Jaffray to start pumping at low capacity late this afternoon (yesterday) with areas in the central business district, industry and some western suburbs (Glen View, Budiriro, Mufakose Kambuzuma, Highfield and Glen Norah) being expected to start accessing water by midnight.
"Other areas are expected to start accessing water as the week progresses, but that depends on the availability of chemicals some of which are sourced from outside the country," he said.
However, unconfirmed reports yesterday said Government was by late yesterday battling to clear some trucks carrying chemicals from South Africa but still on the other side of the border in Musina.
Meanwhile, business ground to a halt in the CBD with companies advising their staff to go home and come back to work when the water situation improved.
This is the second time in a month that companies have been forced to send workers home after Zinwa cut water supplies citing acute shortages of water chemicals and pump breakdowns at Morton Jaffray Waterworks.
Workers at the Registrar-General's Offices said the complex have been without water for sometime and supplies were only restored on Friday only to be disconnected at the weekend.
Yesterday the RG's Office was open but workers said they would be going home at lunchtime.
At Mukwati and Kaguvi buildings, Government workers said the buildings have not been receiving water especially offices from the Fourth Floor and above.
The situation was the same in the heavy industrial areas with companies exempting their workers from duty while others continued to run with skeleton staff.
Residents of Warren Park, Glen View and Kuwadzana said they stopped receiving water on Saturday morning without warning and feared the situation might fuel the cholera outbreak in the city.
Mr Charles Chirema of Crowborough North, who was fetching water from a van-
dalised pipe in the suburb, said they have been getting their water from the pipe since Friday last week.
"After failing to get water since Friday, residents removed the manhole lid to gain entry to the valves and have resorted to get water from the pipe. We are, however, encouraging residents to boil the water since people are using different containers to fetch the water," he said.
Mr Nicholas Mareya of Mt Pleasant said they were relying on neighbours with boreholes for a fee.
"I am actually driving from my uncle's place where I got this water for drinking. The area has been receiving intermittent supplies over the past month," he said.
Residents in Highfield and Mbare raised concern at the current water crisis, saying this was the first time in years that the two suburbs had completely run dry.
"I have lived in Highfield all my life, but this is the first time I have experienced such a water crisis," Mr Michael Kudyanga said.
Rainbow Towers Hotel, which was hosting a workshop for parliamentarians, had to close ablution facilities because of the water crisis.
Residents in Glen View and Budiriro where boreholes were sunk are still to draw water from them as bush pumps were still to be installed.
Residents in Belvedere were relying on neighbours with boreholes while some had to buy.
Informal traders were cashing in on the crisis selling plastic containers to desperate residents fetching water.
A 25-litre plastic container was going for US$25 while for a 30-litre container one had to fork out US$40.
When The Herald visited Morton Jaffray Waterworks at around 2pm, the plant was shut down with Zinwa workers saying they had stopped pumping on Sunday due to the acute shortage of aluminum sulphate and were still to receive chemicals.
"We are informed that RBZ provided funding for the procurement of water chemicals, but we are baffled that to date we have not received any consignment.
"At the moment we are not treating any water, but we hope things will normalise soon," said one of the workers.
The water crisis comes at a time when the country is battling to contain a cholera outbreak.
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Who are these and who elected them to represent Zimbabweans -> The meeting, chaired by Water and Infrastructural Development Deputy Minister Cde Walter Mzembi and attended by the Minister of State for Policy Implementation Cde Webster Shamu. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION - warped Zanu PF policies, true example of organised stupidity.
Zimbabwe is now experiencing “mega” failures of its water system, farming, roads and political system. Whatever Zanu-pf has touched has failed. Zanu-pf seeks to control the economy, the military, police, foreign currency and the people and the result is total chaos and failure. It is time to admit and recognize this mega failure. Surely it is not because of the “west”. Most of this is purely selfishness and incompetence. It is time to change the leadership of Zimbabwe. We have become a big joke in SADC and the rest of the world.