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Council boreholes turned to personal use in Greendale
Extracted from The Resident issue 33
Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA)
March 16, 2004

Most council employees would dispute that there are any council boreholes in Harare, let alone in Greendale. The Resident is reliably informed that there is a council borehole along Harare drive that council has long since forgotten about, and people residing over the same property are not even aware that this is so.

The revelation came to light two weeks ago when the residents in Greendale were faced with yet another week without water. Wards 9, 18, 19, 20 and 21 have been having perennial water problems with no end in sight. The wards cover Mabvuku and Tafara, Greendale, Chisipite, Borrowdale and surrounding areas. Council has stated that plans are underway to have an alternative water source (Kunzvi Dam) about 70km from Harare. The dam project has however been doomed as no one has been willing to take the tender for its construction and the water capacity that the dam will produce will only be enough to cover a potion of the city.

The Municipality is understood to have sunk some boreholes in Greendale but council engineers have professed ignorance over their existence. The boreholes are alleged to be situated over residential properties and hence the people residing in these properties have laid claim to them.

The Resident urges council to establish this fact and allow for the provision of water for the area. Mabvuku and Tafara remain a problem. Council must seek ways of drilling boreholes and improving the city's pumping capacity to provide enough water to the residents. Residents Associations in the area denounce the vandalism of water pipes by some residents there and feel that proper security measures must be put in place to secure the water points.

Visit the CHRA fact sheet

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