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Dzivarasekwa protests
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
August 21, 2007

RESIDENTS in Ward 45, Dzivarasekwa this morning (22 Aug. 07) converged at Dzivarasekwa district office and demanded that the local district office urgently attend to the crisis of burst sewers that has gone unattended for nearly two weeks.

Dzivarasekwa and Tynwald have had perennial problems of burst sewers for ages and request for assistance from the district office have fallen on deaf ears. The crowd of about 70 residents which was led by the CHRA local leadership of Ward 45 made several resolutions. After meeting the officers in charge at the district office residents resolved the following;

* If the sewerage bursts which have been left unattended to for weeks are not solved the residents will throw the sewer at the district office. They argued that most of the people working at the district office did not live with sewage burst and hence could not sympathise with the residents. They would want to throw the sewage at the district office as a sign of discontent and also to make them appreciate the gravity of the matter.

* Residents are also keen on petitioning the Minister of Water Resources and Infrastructural Development on the state of waste management and in particular the sewage crisis that has hit the area. The letter will be carbon copied to ZINWA and the City of Harare.

* They will mobilise residents from other areas so they can make a combined action at the Town House and ZINWA offices within 14 days.

The Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA) has been running capacity building programs to assist residents to make local based actions to solve local actions. The popular action witnessed today was part of the ongoing exercise by CHRA to decentralise the planning and implementation of programs at community level. Since ZINWA took over the administration of Sewer and Water services there has been a phenomenal decline in the management of sewer and water services.

Several areas have gone without water while burst sewers have become the order of the day. The worst affected areas include Mabvuku-Tafara, Budiriro, Dzivarasekwa, Glen Norah, Glen View and Hatcliffe.

Resident's have had to close and abandon use of their toilets since they have been blocked for ages. This situation has created a new wave of disease outbreaks with Cholera and Diarhorrea topping the list. The Association has continued with its effort to lobby for the reversal of the decisions by Cabinet to let ZINWA run sewer and water services. CHRA also runs awareness campaigns on how to combat the spread o Cholera and Diarhorrea. The Association will continue to advocate for effective, accountable and transparent municipal services.

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