Harare — THE cash-strapped Chitungwiza Municipality wants the Government to facilitate its takeover of the multi-million dollar Prince Edward water treatment plant from Harare City Council to avoid the current situation where suburbs go for over a week without water.

Town clerk Mr Godfrey Tanyanyiwa told Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo recently that the municipality was interested in managing Prince Edward water treatment plant, Harava and Seke dams.

But Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda feels the municipality should put its proposal on paper and state what exactly they would want to do with the plant and dams.

"We do not want to end up with a situation where the plant is run down because of poor management.

"The management systems in Chitungwiza are not that robust. In fact we need to sit down with them to strengthen their management systems," he said.

An assessment of the operations of the municipality indicates serious shortcomings in areas of refuse collection, water and sewer management.

Last week, Chitungwiza Acting Mayor Clr Philimon Chipiyo confessed that his council was bankrupt and was in need of Government assistance to resuscitate its ailing refuse fleet and repair collapsed water and sewer pipes.

The municipality is failing to pay its 1 800 employees on time.

But those handicaps were not enough to deter the municipality from asking for a bigger and more onerous responsibility of managing the production and distribution of portable water.

"We want the management of Prince Edward water treatment, Seke and Harava dams to be transferred to Chitungwiza Municipality. In fact, we want to buy the water facilities," said Mr Tanyanyiwa.

He said Chitungwiza would sell excess water to Harare City Council and make a profit.

The plant which produces 66 mega litres a day supplies water to Chitungwiza, Harare International Airport, Mabvuku, Tafara and Ruwa among other areas.

Harare City Council owns the two dams and the purification plant.

Mr Tanyanyiwa said Chitungwiza would soon embark on a water augmentation project on Mupfure River in Beatrice.

The municipality, which is the third largest urban settlement after Harare and Bulawayo, is expanding southwards after acquiring a number of farms.