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Innocent Ruwende in Redcliff
Redcliff Municipality is seeking an investor for a partnership in the construction of water treatment works, to wean itself from Kwekwe City Council.

The municipality gets its water from Kwekwe and owes council more than $2 million in unpaid water charges, resulting in it getting erratic water supplies.

Speaking during a recent meeting with Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund officials, Redcliff town engineer Mr Thembani Kundhlande said the municipality could draw water from four dams which were already in existence.

“We can draw water from Sebakwe, Cactus, Mbembeswane or Pedro’s Pool,” he said. “We are seeking a grant or a partner to build the plant on a built-operate-transfer basis. The partner can collect money from residents. We will have to install pre-paid water meters for the project to be a success.

“We will also apply for grants from various agencies as we seek to end the water woes, which have seen us coming up with a water rationing schedule for residents.”

Residents in one of the suburbs, Rutendo, get water at least twice a week for three hours, while those in Torwood receive water once a week.

Redcliff mayor Mr Freddy Kapuya is on record as saying the local authority was looking forward to generating more income from the services they were going to provide to Chinese investor, Mortal Investments Manufacturing Company, which is constructing a $10 million cement manufacturing plant after purchasing 100 000 square metres of land.

Mortal Investments, which partnered with a consortium of local businesspeople, purchased the 100 000 square metres of land from Redcliff municipality for $600 000.

It is expected that the company will create 500 jobs for residents whose other source of income, Ziscosteel, closed shop several years ago.

In October, typhoid cases were recorded in Rutendo high-density suburb owing to the acute shortage of water being experienced in the Midlands town.

The municipality recently got a $4 million boost from Zimfund for the rehabilitation of its water supply and sanitation systems.

The funds are part of the $36 million grant to be distributed under the Water and Sanitation Programme Phase Two.

The African Development Bank administers the funds meant for the reinforcement of water distribution and waste water collection systems of five cities, including Redcliff.