Back to Index

Daggers drawn over water pricing
The Herald
June 25, 2004

Delegates attending the 63rd Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) conference here have roundly attacked the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) for not taking into consideration the plight of the people in its water pricing system.

However, the Government said local authorities were the major culprits in the matter as the surcharges they levied on water were outrageous.

The Secretary of Water Resources and Infrastructural Development, Mr Partson Mbiriri, said some local authorities draw up their annual budgets with huge surcharges on water in mind. "Water has been seen as a golden goose. That cannot continue. Water is a basic commodity. There should be a marginal mark-up," he said.

UCAZ president Mr Fani Phiri said Zinwa increases its tariffs at least three or four times a year whereas councils could not effect similar increases because of legal constraints.

He said as a result, there was need to re-examine the Urban Councils Act and make it responsive to the changes in the present economic environment.

Bindura mayor Advocate Martin Dinha said the National Water Act should be revisited to amend or delete clauses that permit the commercialisation of water provision.

He said instead of serving water consumers’ needs, Zinwa had "actually become a monster".

"We must look at the commercialisation of water. When Zinwa came into being we thought it was going to benefit the people.

"We created an animal that is eating all the children in the village. Let us relook at the whole question of the Water Act."

Zinwa was established by an Act of Parliament in 1998. Adv Dinha was supported by other delegates who also attacked Zinwa’s way of operation. But Mr Mbiriri lambasted the behaviour of local authorities which default on payment of their water bills to Zinwa. He said Zinwa was owed $1,764 billion by defaulting local authorities and this huge debt was crippling operations. Mr Mbiriri announced that new farmers could now get temporary water permits for irrigation purposes. He said the farmers would pay Zinwa through stop orders once they sell their produce.

Mr Mbiriri denied allegations that Zinwa was abusing the funds it collects from local authorities by purchasing luxury vehicles. "There are no excesses in Zinwa," he said. He said the money was legitimately used to maintain the existing water sources and to explore new projects.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP