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WATER CRISIS IN WATERFALLS KUMBUDZI

Sarudzai Mupangi Features Writer
Lillian MADZIMURE of Glen Norah C happily washes her clothes in the Mukuvisi River while three of her little children play in the water a few metres downstream. It is like any other day. She sings a common Methodist in Zimbabwe hymn as she goes through her laundry. She is now a regular at the stream and always brings along her three children aged between seven months and eight years.

It is a normal routine twice or thrice every week.
A few metres downstream some men who seem oblivious of her presence are taking a bath. One wonders whether they are aware that the water is heavily polluted. The truth is they do not have any option as they do not have running water in their compounds. They have learnt to ignore the smell from the water and the passing people to clean their bodies.

It is now their life.
The situation had in the past resulted in the outbreak of diseases such as cholera and typhoid.

“I have to use the water to wash my clothes because the taps are dry. I have learnt to live with the smelly water otherwise I have to make several trips to the borehole. It is now an unwritten law among women of the area that we do our laundry at the river while we reserve borehole water for drinking,” Ms Madzimure said.

For residents of Glen Norah, Hopley Farm and others living around Mukuvisi River near Pambudzi roundabout area, the river has become their only source of water. This unfortunately has exposed them to various dangers that include water-borne diseases from the heavily contaminated river or attacks by robbers.

This is a clear indictment to the opposition MDC-T that has failed service delivery and supply of basic necessities such as clean water. This is in sharp contrast with MDG 7 which clearly states that countries should incorporate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and reverse the loss of environmental resources.

It also calls for the reduction of the number of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation by half.
For more than a decade the party has won Harare and Chitungwiza and has failed to improve water supply, refuse collection and services delivery.

Ms Madzimure said: “I cannot leave the children at home alone so when we come here I allow them to play within certain parameters of the river that way they do not disturb me and I can do my work quickly. Besides, my children like it here they get to play in the water while I do my work.

“They say this water is dirty but we have no other option because some neighbours do not allow people to fetch water from their boreholes which are usually kept under lock and key.

“I have to frequently wash children’s clothes and nappies in water and I have not seen any negative effects on the little boy even though people say the water is not suitable for that. I thank God that no harm has happened to us since we started using this water more than two years ago.”

Another resident, Beatrice Mtanda of Glen Norah C, said the river was a reliable source of water as they were getting limited supply from the taps and usually at night.

“We only get tap water for a limited number of hours during the night and it is impossible to do all housework at night since most chores require water. We only collect so much in our containers and go to sleep late.

“We also have a huge challenge keeping the toilets clean so we use tap water for flushing. Since Harare water has been condemned for causing diseases, we do not drink it at all,” Mrs Mtanda said.

Water shortages have also affected Chitungwiza with a majority of the residents being forced to rely on shallow wells. The situation in Chitungwiza, which also depends on the Harare City Council for its water supply, is even worse. In Zengeza and Seke, residents go for more than two weeks without tap water.

The few boreholes that were sunk by non-governmental organisations and by members of the House of Assembly have not been sufficient to cater for the increasing demand for the precious liquid.

Sixty-five year-old Merita Moses of Zengeza 3 extension said she suffers from chest pains but finds it uncomfortable to let her daughter-in-law carry the burden of fetching water all by herself on a daily basis.

She has to carry heavy water buckets a couple of times a day against her doctor’s instructions.
“We rely on boreholes as the water supplied by council has dark residue which settles under the water. We can’t use it for drinking as we fear for our health. Today we are doing laundry at home so we have been up since 5:30am and it is now after two in the afternoon. Today we have to visit the shallow well a few more times than we do daily. It is time consuming.

“We are stuck in this situation. I thought people were going to give Zanu-PF a chance maybe our situation was going to change. Council does not have any solutions in sight. I run a small business from home and the water problems sometimes stop me from developing my project because we sometimes spend long hours at the boreholes. The situation is not good for development,” said Mrs Moses in bitterness.

She said the water issue had become a real thorn in the flesh, people’s ways of living depended on how early and how easily they found water.
Asked why they had voted in a municipality that had brought about such terrible problems on them some of the people could not even answer why.

The others did not know how the two issues were interconnected saying they were just blindly voted for MDC-T despite the party’s inability to perform.

Residents do not even think there is a permanent solution to the problem as Chitungwiza municipal council insisted on having an independent water supply source that it controls itself if water problems are to disappear.

Another resident Mr Kudzai Mazhazhate said it was disappointing how council had made money through selling land for residential stands yet they were doing nothing to improve water reticulation systems.

He said there was a lot of corruption going on and the authorities should be transparent about money made from sale of residential stands and the need to improve the water situation.

“They are increasing pressure on the already existing sewage and water systems by giving away residential stands. We tend to use very little water after using the toilet when there is no running water this is not good for the flow of the sewage system,” Mr Mazhazhate said.”

Acting Director for Harare water works department Mr Bernard Poko said the situation in Harare was better compared to that of Chitungwiza. People get water at least once a week for a few hours.

“It is not true that people go for too long without water, we rotate places because we cannot supply all areas at the same time. We only produce 600 mega litres of instead of the required 1 200 megalitres per day for both Chitungwiza and Harare,” Mr Poko said.

He said the council was making frantic efforts to get funding to rehabilitate the water infrastructure.
He also said the US$35 million Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund had gone a long way to alleviate the situation.

Mr Poko pinned his hopes on Kunzvi Dam.
But as they say your vote is your voice, why did these people retain the MDC-T to lead the cities again?

Though a few residents Harare and other cities seem to have seen reason and chose to vote Zanu-PF but the rest remained with the blundering MDC-T.

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