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ZINWA's proposal rejected
The Herald (Zimbabwe)
May 04, 2005

http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?id=43105&pubdate=2005-05-04

THE Urban Councils’ Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) has rejected a proposal by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) to take over water reticulation from local authorities despite the fact some councils have been failing to provide the valuable commodity to residents.

UCAZ president Cde Fani Phiri said yesterday that the decision was made at the association’s executive meeting held in Bulawayo last week where councils felt that the authority did not have the capacity to operate the water reticulation systems and, instead, resolved to appeal to the Government to make funds available for the rehabilitation of water reticulation infrastructure.

Zinwa had proposed to take over the water reticulation and distribution of the commodity in urban areas such as Harare and other towns that have faced intermittent water shortages over the years.

The shortages were mainly attributed to the shortage of water treatment chemicals and collapsing infrastructure.

"Zinwa made a proposal to UCAZ to take over the distribution of water from local authorities such as Harare as they were facing problems.

"But the executive rejected the proposal on the basis that Zinwa does not have the capacity to run over these facilities," Cde Phiri said.

"Instead, we resolved to appeal to the Government to allocate local authorities some money to help them rehabilitate their infrastructure. The local authorities have the capacity in terms of personnel and infrastructure and they only face problems when it comes to the sourcing of money to run these facilities."

Cde Phiri said almost all the local authorities had problems with their water reticulation networks that he said had outlived their recommended lifespan.

"The water reticulation networks in urban areas are collapsing because they are dilapidated.

"Some urban areas have also expanded rapidly in the last few years and as a result the infrastructure is failing to cope," he said.

The majority of urban areas face frequent pipe bursts which result in water cuts that last for several weeks. Harare has experienced intermittent water shortages since last year, which has been attributed to the shortage of water treatment chemicals and a collapsing infrastructure.

Last week, schools in Harare’s eastern suburbs had to cut short their lessons due to continued water dearths.

Zinwa is a quasi-parastatal with the mandate to run all the water bodies in the country and last year it took over water reticulation in some urban areas such as Hwange, which were failing to supply water to residents.

The water utility sells raw water to some local authorities who treat and distribute the commodity to the residents.

It also supplies water directly to residents in areas where local authorities do not have the capacity to do so.

The authority is also owed billions of dollars by local authorities, which are failing to pay for the water supplied.

However, Cde Phiri said the majority of the local authorities had secured reliable suppliers of water treatment chemicals.

"The situation has improved significantly except for some cities such as Harare and the issue of water treatment chemicals is no longer a problem anymore," he said.

Some local authorities including Bulawayo have indicated that they will introduce water rationing this year due to low water inflows during the just ended rain season.

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