Funded by the African Water Facility (AWF) to the amount of US $3 million, the project designed to rehabilitate the water supply and sewerage systems in Chitungwiza will be handed over today to the Municipality of Chitungwiza, following the completion of the construction works.

This direct investment by the AWF will improve the hygiene, the health and social well-being of an estimated 350,000 people by reducing the incidences of water-borne and related diseases such as cholera and typhoid, through a system now better equipped to provide drinkable water and remove sewage from residential areas.

Chitungwiza has borne the brunt of cholera epidemics, and counts on this intervention to avert another outbreak, which has been severely plaguing the city since 2008.

Launched in January 2012 and completed in February 2013, the project is poised to help stabilise the deterioration in the provision of water and sanitation services in the Municipality of Chitungwiza, meanwhile enhancing institutional capacity for efficient and sustainable operation and management of the water supply and sanitation services.

"We give great importance to this project as a means to helping Chitungwiza quickly recover from years of poor water supply and sanitation service delivery and improve people's lives," said Akissa Bahri, Coordinator of the African Water Facility. "It is hoped that the results will also contribute to building stakeholder confidence, catalysing donor resources and generating knowledge on transitional assistance in a post-conflict setting."

The handover ceremony has been jointly presided over by Damoni Kitabire, Officer-In-Charge of the Zimbabwe Field Office for African Development Bank, and Councillor Mrs C.M. Makwara, representing the Mayor of Chitungwiza Municipality, and attended by local stakeholders and city officials.