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Local government media tracker week ending June 04 2013
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
June 05, 2013

Zimbabwe secures $140 million to curb Harare water woes
The Herald

Treasury has secured enough resources to finance the refurbishment of old and burst water pipes in Harare in a bid to end the water problems affecting the city’s residents. Finance Minister Tendai Biti told reporters in Harare that Treasury has secured $140 million, which will be handed over to Harare City Council next week for replacing old and burst water pipes throughout the city. The minister said water shortages currently being experienced in the capital are a result of leakages of purified water as it is channeled from the treatment center located at Morton Jaffray Water Works to end users throughout the city. Councillor Chifodya said the Treasury disbursement will help in ensuring that ratepayers have access to water within the shortest possible time. The council official said town house is failing to provide adequate water to ratepayers partly because government has not been paying what it owes council. The government owes its local service providers including the local authority $350 million. Investigations by Studio 7 indicate that suburbs such as Mabvuku, Tafara, Greendale and Ashdown Park have gone for more than a week now without water. Meanwhile, health experts are warning that outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid could soon resurface in the city if water shortages persist.

Zimbabwe capital city grapples with worsening water shortages
The Xinhua News

Harare’s water problems are worsening with the city producing less than half the amount required to meet demand. Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda said that the city’s waterworks are producing an average 600 megalitres of water against a demand of 1,400 megalitres. The low water production has seen Harare City Council embarking on a rotational rationing program that entails the switching off of supplies to some suburbs for prolonged periods while reservoirs in other parts of the city fill up. In some cases, supplies are cut for several days, prompting some residents to seek alternative sources such as unprotected wells and polluted streams. This has resulted in several of them contracting water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Tonderai Tagwireyi, a Harare resident, said the situation is so dire that many residents, especially the elderly, have become helpless. “We cannot even flush our toilets and some people are resorting to using wet towels to clean themselves up before going to work, instead of taking actual baths,”. The water quality in the reservoirs, especially at Lake Chivero and Lake Manyame, has been deteriorating over the years because of heavy upstream domestic, agricultural and industrial pollution from the city and the dormitory towns of Chitungwiza, Norton and Ruwa. Ruwa pollutes the upstream Seke and Harava dams, which feed into Lake Chivero, which also suffers heavy pollution from Harare and Chitungwiza. Lake Chivero in turn feeds into Lake Manyame which sometimes receives raw sewage from Norton. As a result, the city has been pumping more money into treatment chemicals instead of investing in infrastructure rehabilitation. The city spends 3 million dollars a month on eight chemicals, yet the bill could go down drastically had the water been cleaner.

Government owes Harare City Council $130 million
The Standard

City of Harare Mayor said, they would have been able to improve service delivery, including clean water provision, had government departments paid part of the US$130 million it owes the local authority. Businesses and residents also owe the city several millions of dollars in unpaid rates and service charges. The city requires US$2 million for the procurement and installation of 47 pressure reducing valves, a project that could reduce burst pipes by over 50%. It also needs US$14 million for the replacement of key sections of the distribution network consisting of about 150km of piping in a move hoped to avail water to over 60 000 households in Greater Harare.

Government releases US$140million for upgrading Harare Water infrastructure
NewsDay

The Minister of Finance Tendai Biti said, “The funds will go a long way in improving the water supplies for Harare and the satellite towns, Chitungwiza, Ruwa and Norton, which rely on water supplies from the Harare City Council.“The contract of this package has been finalised and a letter of acceptance was issued on 18 April 2013. Harare has been experiencing water problems with Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda blaming it on worn-out infrastructure. Biti in his statement also said Harare City Council was losing at least 40% of its treated water through leakages, illegal connections and theft. Places like Mabvuku and Greendale, which had become deserts, will soon have reliable water supplies,” The minister also revealed that $15, 5 million had been availed to complete the Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam in Masvingo, with total cumulative disbursements to the water and sanitation sector totalling $17, 5 million.

Nestle Zimbabwe expands water storage five-fold
The Gazette

The company will spend $14 million boosting the size of its water storage with an underground tank as well as on an office, laboratory and upgrades to cereal and drink plants, the weekly Financial Gazette said on its website. Erratic water supply from Harare, whose mayor said the capital needs $2.5 billion to repair pumping, purification and piping infrastructure according to the Herald, means most businesses and many private households store water on their premises.

ZERA to probe pre-paid meter tariff irregularities
The Sunday Mail

The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) will soon launch a probe into alleged irregularities in Zesa’s pre-paid meters tariff system even though no formal complaints has been received. The Chief Executive Officer Magombo said that there is discontent from the public to warrant a probe by the regulatory authority. The CEO urged consumers to report their grievances to her organization, pointing out that the absence of a formal complaint makes it difficult for ZERA to probe issues. Turning to the power production, the ZERA boss disclosed that there has been an increase in the number of independent power producers (IPPs) who have been applying for licences. Ten IPPs have been licensed so far and are generating over 2000 megawatts for private use. The Government recently gazetted Statutory Instruments 44A on electricity regulations which stipulates the sale of pre-paid meters to speed up the implementation of the programme. The ZESA holdings have disclosed that it has installed 150 000 at domestic and commercial premises.

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