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Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Owen Ncube has rescued Redcliff Municipality from its perennial water woes after asking its major water supplier, Kwekwe City Council, to constantly supply water to the debt-ridden municipality.

Redcliff residents had reportedly gone for close to two months without water.

Kwekwe City Council has been intermittently disconnecting water to Redcliff over an outstanding $2 million debt.

Redcliff Municipality once submitted a plan to pay off the debt through $40 000 monthly instalments.

It failed to honour its commitments and Kwekwe City Council has been disconnecting water supplies to the town.

Minister Ncube said his office had written to Kwekwe City Council to supply water constantly to Redcliff and ensure that people were not deprived of their right to safe water.

Minister Ncube said Kwekwe City Council should realise that some cholera cases had been reported in some parts of the country.

“We received reports that Redcliff has gone for weeks without water,” he said. “This is because they are not able to raise enough money to settle the debt they owe Kwekwe City Council in unpaid water bills.

“However, we have engaged Kwekwe City Council to supply water to Redcliff regardless of the challenges the town is facing. We should prioritise service provision, and income generation will follow.

“We should not put the health of the people at risk, especially at a time when there are reported cases of cholera in some parts of the country. Access to safe and clean water should not be compromised.”

A health hazard was now looming in Redcliff Town after residents went for close to two months without water.

This left residents stranded, resulting in some resorting to unclean water sources such as unprotected wells and water from the gutters on their roofs, as well as open streams.

Rutendo high density suburb which houses about 20 000 people has only one borehole which was sunk by Government to partially address the water situation.

Redcliff has three residential areas — Redcliff, Rutendo and Torwood — with an estimated population of about 50 000.