Gweru water woes continue unabated

Gweru (The Times-New Ziana) -Water woes continue unabated in Gweru despite assurances by the local authority that the situation would improve following installation of water pumps late last year.

The situation in the Midlands provincial capital has worsened as some parts of the city go for many days without portable water due to continued pipe bursts and unavailability of electricity at Gwenhoro Pump Station.

In some wards council has resorted to supplying water bowsers.

Council spokesperson Vimbai Chingwaramusee said the shortage of water in the city was due to low water levels at Amaphongokwe Dam and Gwenhoro.

“Some areas are complaining that they have not been getting water and the reason behind it is that the water levels in our two sources of water Amaphongokwe and Gwenhoro dams are very low due to low rainfall in the 2019/2020 season,” she said.

Chingwaramusee said the reason some areas had not received water for the past week was a pipe burst at the Zimbabwe Military Academy (ZMA) last week.

“There was a pipe burst at ZMA last week and some areas were affected by this. These areas include some parts of Mkoba, South Downs, Northlea, Kopje, Lundi Park and Ridgemond.”

Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) executive director Cornelius Selipiwe said even after purchasing low lift pumps the city was still experiencing serious water challenges.

“We have been turned into villagers, it is because of this and other serious service delivery deficiencies that has contributed to non-payment. We are suffering, we need water, someone is not doing his or her job,” he said.
New Ziana