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City of Harare mid-year service delivery summary analysis - 2012
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
July 05, 2012

Water

The provision of water has improved despite the fact that City of Harare is still struggling to meet the growing demand inspired by the ever growing population. Harare's Morton Jeffery waterworks is currently supplying water to Harare, Chitungwiza and Norton. Harare alone needs at least 1,300 mega litres of water daily but the current supply per day ranges from 600-700 mega liters which is approximately half of the demand. This is posing a serious threat to areas in the uppers side of Harare for instance hillside, Mabvuku-Tafara, highlands, Greystone-park and Borrowdale. However, of the 600 litres that is being produced by at least 40% of the water is being lost through uncontrolled leakage.

Refuse collection

Refuse collection has slightly improved since Banc-ABC facilitated the purchase of 20 trucks and a sizable number of compacters for refuse removal. However, Harare needs at least 56 refuse trucks in order to sustain refuse collection twice a week in all of Harare's suburbs and industry. Dumpsites are still being seen in selected areas which is a cause for concern and this has been exacerbated by the pressure on the current truck servicing Harare.

Sewer management

Harare is currently depending on sewer lines that were inserted during the Salisbury era. The pipes have now succumbed to immense rusting hence sewer bursts continue to happen. City of Harare through the assistance of the ministry of finance has been able to embark on a pipe replacement program for both sewer and water. This explains the unending digging in town where pipes are being traced and replaced. Harare is sitting on its own catchment area and this simply means that it is releasing its own sewer effluent into its own water source. Last year, the environmental management agency [E.M.A] fined the city of Harare $15 000USD for releasing raw sewer into Hunyani river.

Housing

Harare's Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda admitted in 2011 that the city had a huge housing backlog. Over a million people are on the housing list and the list is expected to rise by 5% every year. Council's Housing department has been blamed for the slow pace of implementing Housing projects. The housing situation is dire in Mbare with as many as three families sharing a room. This has placed a lot of pressure on sewer services and burst sewer pipes are common in these areas. The overcrowding has become a breeding ground for infectious diseases. In a newspaper report, Mbare's councilor, Friday Muleya expressed concern that since last year's launch of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation US$5 million housing project, residents in his area continued to wait in vain. He revealed that he had ten (10) cooperatives he was working with in Kuwadzana but only one which was formed in 2004 was allocated land in February 2004.

According to the Harare City Council's Education, Housing and Community Services and Licensing Committee minutes dated September 27 2011, CABS Building society entered into an agreement with Council which would result in the construction of low cost housing units in Harare's high density suburbs. CABS would be allocated 3102 residential stands from the 4558 created from the subdivision earmarked for the Budiriro Housing Development Project. Council also commissioned a US$5 million low cost housing Project with Fidelity. None of these Housing projects have yet benefitted the homeless.

Municipal Health Services

The council has been refurbishing most of its hospitals with assistance from donors. The International Committee of the Red Cross and other donors has assisted Council with drugs and equipment. There are also other partners who assist like the German government. It's encouraging that council hospitals and clinics are offering better health care services than some government ones with some government hospitals referring patients to council facilities. Council health institutions are also remunerating their staff better than government. The council facilities are also well stocked with drugs and are charging reasonable affordable rates for treatment. While standards of health provision by council still need improvement the good work and effort put in must not go unnoticed.

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