Staff Reporter

MARONDERA– Following intermittent power supplies that have been interrupting the pumping of water at its water treatment plant, the Municipality of Marondera has finally purchased a generator.

In a statement, the council’s public relations officer Kudakwashe Tapfumaneyi confirmed the acquisition of the 550 KVA 3-phase industrial generator, complete with additional consumables, for use at the local authority’s Longlands water treatment plant.

“The generator will serve as a standby power source during power outage, helping to alleviate water supply challenges during periods of intermittent electricity supply. This acquisition is part of council’s transformative journey to enhance service delivery, aligning with the Call to Action: No Compromise to Service Delivery as pronounced by President (Emmerson) Mnangagwa, and the National Development Strategy-1 (NDS-1).

“These efforts are aimed at achieving targets Vision 2030. Council is committed to improving service delivery and envisions becoming a Vibrant Smart City of Service Excellence by 2030,” Tapfumaneyi said.

Early this year, Tapfumaneyi told Chaminuka that council was working to resolve the supply challenges being faced by the local authority – largely attributing them to erratic power supply at the water treatment plant and the low capacity of water at the same plant.

He also revealed that the council had started to expand the water treatment plant’s capacity from the current maximum capacity supply of 13.5 mega litres per day to 30 mega litres per day.

The council, he said, has identified possible investors who are keen on investing in the water treatment plant expansion project through a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) arrangement, with the Zimbabwe Investment Development Authority (ZIDA) guiding the local authority through the process of analysing bids.

The project, expected to be funded to the tune of US$18 million, is expected to be completed before the end of the year.