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City water unsafe - Harare a silent deathbed
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
Extracted from The Resident, Issue 42
October 22, 2004

"Harare’s Water Sources are polluted, and the quality of treated water does not meet World Health Organisation standards," says Professor C. Magadza, lecturer and Researcher at the University of Zimbabwe.

In an interview with Short Wave Radio on 28 September 2004, Professor Magadza stated that a clinical study was carried out on Harare’s Water Supply and disturbing results were obtained. Harare’s water bodies carry a significant amount of pollutants whicb pause a potential health risk.

The Harare City Council has not made a statement on this revelation. Professor Magadza alleges that the city’s health department has not carried out any tests on the water in recent months owing to lack of capacity, but offered the results of his research for their benefit. His comments come close on the heels of those made by Eng. Elias Mudzuri, the deposed Executive Mayor of Harare.

Eng. Elias Mudzuri is on record as stating that Harare’s drinking water was heavily polluted, and the city should treat the matter with urgency. His statements were complemented by Prof, Magadza who added that the situation might reach epidemic levels in the current season where cholera threats are becoming increasingly real.

Perennial stomach upsets in the city have been linked to a string of pathogens resident in our water sources. Unless council is given enough resources to improve water treatment in the city, and unless efforts to construct an alternative water source become action, residents will face a grim future. In the meantime, no alternative means of cleaning the city’s water have been found.

The Resident calls upon the relevant authorities to intervene. We are being killed softly as long there is no long term solution to this water crisis. Harare is in a crisis and shall remain so as long as there are no adequate resources to arrest the water situation. This was highlighted during the Solomon Tawengwa-led Council, and others including the Chanakira Commission, and it has never transcended the verbal domain. A city of uncollected refuse, burst sewer pipes, unsafe and sporadic water supply, is a city courting cholera, dsyentry and similar disasters. Its time to wake-up from slumber and bring the city back on its knees before it too late.

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