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Residents endure Easter without water
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
April 11, 2012

Dozens of families from Luveve, Gwabalanda, Emakhandeni and Lobhengula high density suburbs spent their Easter holidays without water after the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) disconnected them for non payment of bills.

Disconnected residents could be seen carrying buckets and fetching water from their neighbours and some queuing at community boreholes during the course of the holiday. Residents said they failed to enjoy the Easter holiday festivities as a result of the disconnections as they spent most of time fetching water.

In the last few months the BCC has been on a debt recovery drive which has also entailed attaching and auctioning property belonging to residents that owe the local authority money. Residents have condemned disconnections and auctioning of residents' properties of residents as water is a basic need that should be afforded to all citizens. Residents said they expect BCC to understand that the country's economy is making it difficult for residents to meet their obligations hence the local authority should be more understanding. Residents suggested that BCC should give residents opportunities to discuss alternative payment options as many of them are not able to clear their debts through once off payments. They said that by disconnecting services to residents, BCC was essentially abdicating on its duty to provide water to the residents, which is in essence an affront on the right of residents to access clean drinking water.

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