Redcliff needs $35m for sewer, water reticulation

Midlands Reporters
REDCLIFF Municipality requires over $35 million to rehabilitate and upgrade its sewer and water reticulation system, an African Development Bank assessment report has revealed.

The continental lending institution recently availed $4,09 million to the Kwekwe satellite town for water and sewer reticulation as part of its $30 million Urgent Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project.

AfDB has also allocated $20 million to Harare City Council, $2,5 million Ruwa Town Council and $4,09 to Chitungwiza Municipality after receiving funding from Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland.

A stakeholder consultation and feedback on Redcliff Investment Plan document released yesterday shows Redcliff needs $35,8 million to address sewer and water reticulation systems.

“The existing assets have been roughly valued so that replacement costs could be considered in the financial model. The water supply infrastructure is currently valued around $29,5 million, while sewerage infrastructure is valued at around $6,2 million. The total fixed asset value is around $35,8 million,” reads part of the report.

AfDB has also proposed that Redcliff should have its own separate water supply system parallel to that of the City of Kwekwe.

In an interview yesterday, acting Redcliff Town Clerk, Mr Gilson Chakauya said the local authority was failing to meet the daily water demand.

He said 55 percent of treated water supplied to Redcliff by Kwekwe was lost through leakages.

In a separate interview, AfDB Zimbabwe funding manager Mr Emmanuel Nzabanita said the bank was going to implement the Urgent Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project in phases, with Harare coming in the first phase.

Mr Nzabanita said the lending institution was looking forward to completing Ruwa, Redcliff and Chitungwiza projects before the end of this year while the Harare project would be completed in 2018.

“We have embarked on an Urgent Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project. In Redcliff we will be rehabilitating the water supply and drainage systems. We will be supplying a Jet Vac detector which can detect pipe burst to about 2km underground, refurbishing the two water reservoirs, rehabilitating about 5km of water pipes. We will be replacing them. We have established state-of-the-art water testing laboratory and revitalising three sewage ponds. We will also give them three trucks to improve their service delivery,” said Mr Nzabanita.

The project was launched at a time Redcliff is grappling with water challenges after Kwekwe disconnected supplies to the satellite town over a $2 million debt.

This was followed by a diarrhoea outbreak in Rutendo suburb after stranded residents resorted to water from unprotected wells and gutters on their roofs as well as open streams.

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

Torwood, which has shared ablution facilities, was once hit by a massive tapeworm outbreak that affected over 3 000 people due to unclean and unsafe water sources.

One of the boreholes in the Ziscosteel compound had to be decommissioned after its water was discovered to be contaminated by chemicals.

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