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Residents opt for borehole water
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
January 19, 2012

Cowdray Park residents are calling in the local authority to consider drilling boreholes in the high density suburb. This comes after most of the residents have passed complaints over the city council's lack of consistency in providing water. Some households do not have water while others go for long hours without the precious liquid as the municipality rations water. Despite that access to water is a basic human right, some household still do not have water reticulation systems. Others residents have said that they have been waiting for a long time for the city council to connect them while others said they are still to embark on the cumbersome process. Nonetheless, residents said that it would be best for them to have access to boreholes as these offer an alternative source of water and is suitable in most high density suburbs.

Residents dismayed by conduct of Mpilo authorities

Bulawayo residents have bemoaned the negligence of personnel at Mpilo Referral Hospital after reports that women who deliver at the institution are detained until they pay a minimum of $60 without access to bedding and food. To ensure that the women pay their balances, the hospital's authorities confiscate their identity documents and withhold the newborn babies' birth records. It is alleged that those that fail to pay their medical fees immediately after giving birth are moved to another ward where they sleep on the floor and are not served the hospital food during mealtime. This goes on amid the general decline of standards of government hospitals. Despite denial by the hospital authorities that this is taking place, BPRA has it on good authority that the hospital has resorted to these extreme measures as a way of ensuring that all patients pay fully for services rendered to them. Bulawayo residents have said they view this as a gross violation of women's rights. They said women that deliver at government hospitals should be treated well even if they have not paid their dues. Residents opined that the Ministry of Health should intervene to ensure that hospitals respect the rights of women.

Visit the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association fact sheet

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