HARARE residents are opposing the government's plan to roll out prepaid water meters, arguing the move will not solve the city's ongoing water shortages, poor water quality and widespread leakages.
The government announced plans to install prepaid water meters across the country, starting with the capital city, Harare, to improve water management and responsible use.
In a statement Tuesday, Harare Residents Trust (HRT) accused local authorities of failing to establish a transparent and accountable water management system and argued that this will be another profit-making scheme at the expense of residents.
"Prepaid water meters will never help improve the quantity of water delivered to the residents, nor will they address the quality of the water supplied.
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"Given the deliberate failure by the local authorities, especially the City of Harare (CoH), to secure a functional, transparent and accountable enterprise resources planning system, it is prudent to initially invest in plugging the leakages and illegal water connections along the water distribution network to reduce non-revenue water.
"The private companies being brought in by the national government to provide the prepaid water meters and be involved in the whole water value chain are interested in profit and not improving service delivery," HRT said.
The residents' trust also accused the government and CoH of quietly signing the deal under a Build-Operate-Transfer model without involving the most affected stakeholders, which are the taxpayers.
The water infrastructure contract was given to a Hangzhou Liaison Technology Company and Helcraw Electrical Company without going to tender and the contents of the contracts remain unknown to the public.
Helcraw is owned by Zanu PF legislator for Murehwa West constituency, Farai Jere.
Meanwhile, HRT urged parliamentary committees to hold public hearings so Zimbabweans can share their views on the water meter policy.
Harare has faced a growing water crisis for years, with daily water supply going down a mix of poor maintenance, pollution and leaking pipes.
