REDCLIFF Municipality needs to raise US$30 million to establish a water treatment plant to arrest the perennial water crisis in the town.
This was revealed by Redcliff Mayor Councillor Clayton Masiyatsva while responding to residents who wanted an update on what the local authority was doing to address the water challenges.
“Council has done a feasibility study for the water treatment plant and we need about US $30 million to start and finish the project,” he said.
Mayor Masiyatsva said Kwekwe City Council refused to take over the administration of water due to an outstanding debt.
“They (Kwekwe City Council) want us to clear the outstanding bill before they (can) commit themselves,” he said.
“Currently we are either having water on low pressure or no water from Kwekwe as a result Torwood and Redcliff are the most affected areas.”
Mayor Masiyatsva said for Redcliff to be a water authority, it was a long-term process which needs resources. Residents said if Redcliff wants to be a city by 2030, it has to come up with a permanent water source.
“Are we really serious as Redcliff town to be a city by 2030 when we are failing to have our permanent water source?” asked a Torwood resident.
“True we shall be a city by 2030 but it will not be called Redcliff but Kwekwe. The way this authority is being run will result in us losing the town status and be downgraded to a growth point or worse. You ignore residents’ advice and yet seem to be absolutely clueless as to resolve the water crisis. It’s now 12 months or one full year without coming up with something tangible,” said another Redcliff resident.
The Mayor however, said the vision for Redcliff to be a city by 2030 needed collective effort and constructive input from stakeholders.
Another resident suggested that council should engage civil engineers and raise the Cactus dam wall or drill more boreholes as a short-term measure “than waiting for water supply from Kwekwe City Council, which is erratic”.
In response, Mayor Masiyatsva said council buys the idea of drilling more boreholes.
