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Chitungwiza Municipality has aborted plans to install prepaid water meters due to inconsistent supply of water to the town.

Works manager Engineer Emmanuel Mushata confirmed the suspension of the project.

“Yes, we have suspended plans to install water meters in our town, something, which was part of our performance improvement plan because of inadequate water supply from Harare City Council (HCC),” he said.

“Currently, on average we receive 25 megalitres a day against a demand of 66 megalitres a day from HCC.”

Eng Mushata said installing the meters would trigger conflicts with residents who now would expect to receive normal water supplies on a daily basis.

He said the municipality was prioritising fixing sewer bursts that were an everyday occurrence in the town to avoid paying more penalties to the Environmental Management Agency.

“We are putting more focus on the rehabilitation of our sewerage system,” he said.

“We also realised that it was improper to start installation of the water meters when we have more sewer bursts problems in our town and it is hazardous to the health of our residents.” — Herald Reporter.