THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) last week admitted that it was overwhelmed by the extent of pipe bursts in Harare, casting doubt over its ability to restore normal water supplies.

Despite the current wet spell, most parts of Harare's CBD have been without water for the past two weeks, raising fears efforts to contain the unrelenting cholera outbreak could be in vain.

Even premises housing senior officials in the Ministry of Water -- under which Zinwa falls --have not been spared.

Zinwa general manager Lisben Chipfunde said the water authority was faced with a serious shortage of resources, which could result in them not resolving the problems soon.

The ageing piping which needs to be replaced has compounded the problem, he said.

"We have had many cases of burst water pipes and the situation has been a result of the shortage of material to attend to burst water pipes in most areas in the CBD," he said.

"We do not have enough resources to attend to the leakages," said Chipfunde, adding that the parastatal was also facing financial constraints.

He said the sourcing of spare parts and materials to repair burst pipes had become a major challenge.

"The suppliers have got the spare parts but the problem is that they will not give us without any cash up front," Chipfunde said. "We do not have the money."

This left the utility with no option but to cut supplies in areas with burst pipes, he said.

In Harare, parts of the CBD and the Avenues area had been without water for two weeks, affecting the flow of business.

Chipfunde said the situation was likely to persist, as there were many areas that needed attention.

Most shops and food outlets in the city centre have also been operating without water.

Among the most affected areas is Number 1 Kwame Nkrumah Ave, which among others, houses the offices of Deputy Minister of Water Resources and Infrastructure Development, Walter Mzembi, the Competition and Tariff Competition as well as The Standard and Zimbabwe Independent newspapers.