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Hatfield Junior Primary School to close
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
October 27, 2008

Combined Harare Residents Association has received information that; Hatfield junior primary school authorities are contemplating closing the school due to dire water shortages. The school is entering its fourth week without water and the situation is highly unhygienic. The decision to close the school has been delayed by the Grade 7 examinations in progress. This issue is a miniature depiction of the Zimbabwean crisis.

A member of the CHRA Secretariat interviewed some children who are in the sixth grade at the school and gathered that the toilets at the school have blocked and they have become unusable. The school authorities and parents at large fear for the health of their children as there seems to be no hope that the situation will improve. This poses a serious threat of cholera and other disease outbreaks which have wreaked havoc in the city. Homes, offices and other public institutions have been victims of the ZINWA's failure to provide clean and accessible water throughout the city of Harare. Areas like Mabvuku, Tafara, Glenview, Hatfield, Msasa Park, Glen Lorne, Mandara and Sentosa have gone for months, weeks and days without water from their tapes. Areas like Chitungwiza have lost dozens of lives to cholera and other related illnesses.

State media has been running stories of ZINWA having acquired some equipment and chemicals from The People's Republic of China (consistent with the current defacto government look east policy), a country where thousands have been hospitalized and dozens have died from melamine contaminated products. The parastatal (ZINWA) which was imposed by the government in 2006 has failed the nation beyond any reasonable doubt and some government authorities have chided it in the mainstream media, thus acknowledging their failure.

Reacting to the developments, the Chairperson of CHRA, Mr Simba Moyo said that the development is just a tip of the iceberg as it signifies the institutional failure and infrastructural rot thereof. The case of Hatfield Junior Primary School reflects badly on the national picture. Meanwhile, the ZANU PF regime has been so intransigent and have today (27 October 2008) bused the very parents of those kids who face the risk of contracting cholera at school and bring it home where the is no water also, to show their solidarity with the ZANU PF intransigence. The residents deserve better leadership and urge ZANU PF to show respect to the people of Zimbabwe and beyond. Residents also urge Mr Mbeki, the mediator and fellow to uphold honesty and fairness in discharging his duties.

CHRA remains committed to demanding quality and affordable service delivery and accountable, transparent and democratic governance system in the city of Harare and across the country. The association will continue to mobilize residents in advocating for the realization of a free and just society.

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