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Water Barometer - 11-22 October 2012
Harare Residents' Trust (HRT)
October 30, 2012

Comment: Harare City Council finally accepting failure to provide clean water to residents

The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) is shocked at the level of admission of failure by City of Harare officials to provide adequate clean water to residents. Director of Harare Water, Engineer Christopher Zvobgo recently said the City of Harare was encountering serious challenges in providing adequate and clean water to the residents due to increased bursts and leakages along the distribution network. But given the obsolete and aged pipes, it has remained a mammoth task for the Harare Water Department to cope with the ever-increasing demand for water against their pumping capacity. While humanitarian agencies drilled several community boreholes to augment water supplies by the City of Harare, the situation is dire as most of the boreholes have become dysfunctional. From the citywide surveys that the HRT conducted in most high density suburbs residents have to endure long queues in search of water while some boreholes have remained broken down without anyone taking responsibility to repair or maintain them. Maintenance of community boreholes is in our view the main responsibility of the City of Harare, working with residents to set up community maintenance teams, because this was done by humanitarian agencies, concerned with the incapacity of the City of Harare to provide water to all residents. This exhibits lack of seriousness of the city fathers in genuinely addressing the concerns' of the residents in so far as service delivery is concerned .The HRT views the admission by Harare Water of its failure to provide clean portable water, highlighted in a their report titled Harare Water Supply Status, Challenges and the Way Forward as a clear invitation for a robust intervention of other stakeholders. This development calls for the immediate intervention of Central Government and other non-state actors to come up with a multi-sectoral approach to address the challenges which Harare City Council is facing in the provision of the water. This will go a long way in complementing each other's efforts to provide a sound and efficient water distribution network in the once beloved Sunshine City.

Below is a snapshot of the state of water provision affairs in the various suburbs in Harare:

Glen View 1, 2, 3 and 8: Water has been consistently supplied with normal pressure but at times the pressure of the water is low.

Glen Norah B: Water comes around 10 pm and during the day residents resort to the use of the communal boreholes nearby. Water supplies inconsistent here.

Glen Norah Specimen: In the afternoon there is no water. Water is available around 5pm and 6 pm. However, in the areas on higher ground the water usually comes around 8-9 pm due to the low pressure in the water distribution network.

Glen Norah, Chitubu: Water is available from 8pm to 6am and trickles during the day. Sometimes it is dirty. Bills are high in this area, making most residents fail to pay their outstanding debts.

Highfield, Western Triangle: Water supply is inconsistent in this area. Water usually comes around 8-10 am in the morning. If the water is unavailable, residents go to neighbouring suburbs to fetch water. They do not have a single community borehole.

Highfield, Geneva: In Geneva, most houses do not have water from taps. At times the pipes are blocked and the City Council is not fixing them. Most people queue up every day at neighbours' houses to fetch water. Huge bills remain a serious problem. There is no community borehole in Geneva.

Highfield, Lusaka, Egypt and Jerusalem: Water is available in the Egypt and Lusaka areas but the final demands from the City Council are scaring off many residents, as they have become really problematic. The residents are increasingly becoming uncomfortable with the attitude being portrayed by the city fathers despite the chaotic billing system, which the council has failed to address since February 2009. Water is available everyday but pressure is low. In Jerusalem, water is available but there are serious hiccups in the sewer system as the area experience consistent sewer bursts, which take long to repair.

Highfield, New Canaan and Engineering: There is no water from taps because most pipes are blocked. Residents fetch water from pipes that they have connected illegally to the main pipes. City Council is not taking any action for almost 5 years. In the Engineering area water is available from 6am - 8pm, but when it's available during the day, the pressure is low and on high ground it trickles. Final demands were served to most residents in the area.

Budiriro 3: Water is partially available in the area but when the water is not available from the tap, residents resort to the use of borehole water. When the water is available, residents are sceptical to drink it as it has visible In the same vein it should be realised that vein if the tap water is available residents are sceptical to drink water from the tap as it is deemed not of palatable drinking quality.

Mufakose ward 34, 35 and 36: Water has been available consistently in the area. But most of the boreholes in the area are broken down and it's a challenge for the residents particularly at Tendai Community Hall the borehole is still broken down but the Harare City council has so far not made any effort to repair this water point

Sunningdale: Water is always available except when there is a burst water pipe.

Waterfalls, Uplands, Mainway Meadows, Shortson, Derbyshire: The boreholes at Uplands Shopping centre are still not working, after breaking down some three months ago. In areas like Prospect, Parktown, and Cheviot they have water during the night. The water situation in this area has been very consistent over the past week.

Ardbennie and Mbare: The water situation has not changed from last week. Water is consistently available except for the past two weeks when there was no water in some parts of Harare from the 21- 23 September 2012. Most parts of Mbare have constant water supplies. But in Mbare National along Runyararo, Ruredzo Makoni Street and Beatrice Cottages sometimes when residents have no water, they fetch water from the industries along St George's Street where there is continuous burst that does not seem to get repaired at all.

Borrowdale and Mt Pleasant, Glen Lorne, Avondale: Water supplies are erratic here. In parts of Glen Lorne there is now water after three months without. In Mount Pleasant there is no water most of the time, but is only available in low lying areas. Avondale West- most of the water is lost through water leakages in Ayre and Perth roads so has low pressure.

Kuwadzana, Dzivarasekwa and Warren Park: In Kuwadzana Extension there was no water on Saturday and Sunday 20-21 October 2012 around the areas in 10 and 11th streets near the water tank in Kuwadzana Extension. In Dzivarasekwa 3 there is no water along Murehwa Road where some houses have not had water for a very long time. Residents there resort to borehole water fetched from community boreholes.

Mandara, Greendale and Chisipite: Water was available in these areas for three days last week now as we speak water is available. Areas on higher ground do not receive city of Harare water.

Kambuzuma and Rugare: In Rugare water is available most of the time. In the adjacent Westwood suburb, there is no water in households that are located on higher ground but on the houses that are in lower ground water is available in these areas.

Visit the Harare Residents' Trust fact sheet

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