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Water crisis at Bulawayo Poly
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
September 17, 2007

There is a serious water crisis at the Bulawayo Polytechnic College. The college has been operating without water for the past two weeks. As a coping strategy, students have resorted to using the near bush to help themselves, a situation which is likely to cause a health catastrophe. Founded as far back as 1927, the college still do not have boreholes. Recent visit to the college by Zimbabwe National Student Union (ZINASU) revealed that a significant number of students have stopped going to school as a result of the water crisis, a perennial problem in the arid Matebeleland region. The government political attempt to address the water crisis in Bulawayo has long transmogrified into a melodramatic nightmare. There is no political will and commitment from the government. The Zambezi Water Project remains a pipedream. The project seeks to end the perennial water shortages bedevelling Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo by bringing water from the mighty Zambezi river to the city. It was initiated in 1912 but up to present day no progress has been made. Few resources which were allocated to the project was misused and some of the members are set to appear in court soon to account for the money. Corruption is now a culture in the government of Robert Mugabe.The project is expected to cost $US 600 million and is chaired by Dumiso Dabengwa, a senior government official. The entire student leadership at the polytechnic college was deregistered last term.

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