Harare — DISASTER is looming in Harare if no immediate action is taken by the Harare City Council to fill up all those trenches along the city's roads.

The digging of trenches follows the Government's allocation of US$17 million to Harare City Council to address the water reticulation and sewerage system in June this year.

We must thank God that so far no fatal accident has happened.

Motorists and pedestrians are struggling to avoid the trenches and potholes left open by the council workers.

Our city has become a dangerous place to walk or drive in.

The situation becomes more serious at night when visibility is poor.

As residents of Harare, we need some precautions to be taken to avoid unnecessary loss of life or injury.

We need not remind the Harare City Council of what happened in 1998 when a man drowned in a storm water drain.

As a result, council was convicted of culpable homicide for causing the death of the man as they had negligently left a hole unbarricaded.

The same tragedy may befall the city again.

There are just too many dug-up holes and trenches left uncovered with little or no warning to the public and motorists of the death traps that are created as a result of this digging up.

To dig up a hole or leave a manhole cover open with no clear barricades or signs to prevent the public from walking or driving into them is gross negligence and whoever is responsible should be charged.

It is time the council recognised the danger they pose by poor marking or in some cases not marking at all.

In some countries, municipalities are taken to court for laying uneven walkways resulting in pedestrians falling over and breaking legs or dying.

Perhaps it's high time the responsible authorities here started doing the same.

However, our main worry are the rains which are just around the corner.

We don't accept comments by the Harare City Council's Director of Water and Sanitation Department that delays in covering water pipes and trenches in the city are a result of the heavy vehicle and human traffic.

There will never be a day when the movement of vehicles and pedestrians will stop in Harare.

For the sake of progress, they have to barricade the roads where they are digging up trenches and laying new pipes.

Motorists will understand this.

This should be followed immediately by removing those old pipes scattered all over and the filling in of the trenches.

Yes, we know that the filling in of the drains and trenches needs to be compacted so that the soil does not crumble. But this should not take weeks.

If the funds for the project are exhausted, why are they continuing to dig up the trenches, which will not be filled in on time?

We don't want a situation where rains will turn those trenches into pools.

We all need water, but that should not be at the expense of people's lives and safety.

Council should observe sufficient precautionary measures.

At the moment, Harare residents await the proper use of the US$17 million.

They want to see how much progress has been made. They want burst water pipes and sewerage problems to be a thing of the past.