Harare — Government plans to wean off all satellite towns surrounding Harare and help them establish their own water treatment plants and supply systems, a Cabinet minister has said.

Each time Harare has water problems all the satellite towns are affected.

Ruwa and Norton have started constructing their own water treatment plants while Chitungwiza has indicated it wants Harare to cede Prince Edward Water Treatment Plant.

Epworth has not made its plans known.

Addressing Harare City councillors at Town House, Water Resources Development and Management Minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo said plans were at an advanced stage to wean off Chitungwiza, Ruwa, Epworth and Norton from Harare Water.

He said together with Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo they were working on the concept paper.

"We want to separate the administration of water for Chitungwiza, Ruwa, Norton and Epworth. Each time Harare has a water problem all the smaller towns are affected.

"We are discussing this with Minister Chombo. We want this done smoothly. We cannot have children who remain children perpetually," he said.

Minister Chombo attended the meeting, which is part of the roadshow the two ministers have embarked on to make all the 91 local authorities conscious of the need to operate separate water accounts.

Minister Nkomo said funds from water should be banked separately and that all councils should have clear re-investment programmes into the water sector.

"We do not want a mix-up of water funds with any other funds. It is good to have a separate water account whose funds can be ploughed back into the water sector," he said.

Minister Nkomo said council, just like Cabinet, should be an arena for ideas where individual councillors should not feel intimidated when their ideas are criticised.

He urged councillors to learn from officials and use their technical expertise to their advantage.

He said contrary to perceptions by some mayors and councilors, he had the mandate to administer the provision of water, using local authorities as the management agents.