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Revolt
forces Zinwa retreat on shocking water bills
Terry
Mutsvanga, The Standard (Zimbabwe)
July 02, 2006
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/viewinfo.cfm?linkid=11&id=2688&siteid=1
A revolt by Warren
Park residents and calls for resistance by the Combined
Harare Residents’ Association (CHRA) last week, forced the bungling
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) to reverse massive water
increases it had effected The Standard can reveal.
On Friday, the
Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development
Ignatious Chombo convened an urgent meeting with Zinwa and Harare
City Council officials fearing the demonstrations could spread to
others suburbs and explode into uncontrollable national protests.
The government
is edgy about any forms of protests after the opposition MDC, the
labour movement and students threatened imminent demonstrations
to protest against government’s misrule.
Zinwa had put
up bulk water rates from $8 000 to $80 000 a cubic metre while the
council added a surcharge of 50%.
Warren Park angry
residents last Wednesday staged a demonstration at the District
Council Offices forcing council workers to lock themselves up in
the offices.
The workers —
including the District Officer a Mr Mupindu — were rescued by the
armed police from irate ratepayers brandishing water bills and baying
for their blood.
The situation
only calmed down after the police drove the protestors away from
the district offices. The residents threatened to take to the streets
on Thursday again, forcing the government to suspend the increases.
The residents
had received high water bills ranging between $9 and $24 million
for the month of June. The amounts are beyond the reach of most
urban Zimbabweans, who are already struggling to make ends meet.
One of the residents,
Future Munagwa, said he received a bill of $18 million.
"I was shocked
to see such a high figure on my account as I just use water for
cooking and washing. This is totally unacceptable," he said.
One of the Warren
Park residents, who identified himself only as Mavuto queried what
exactly had caused such huge increases in their bills.
Others were more
forthright telling off council officials that the infrastructure
they were using was installed during Ian Smith’s time and wanted
to know the justification for the shock increases.
The huge water
bills were received in other suburbs of Harare.
Fay Vermaark of
Greystone Park, for example, was shocked to receive a bill amounting
to $71 101 857,00 for June.
"Last month (May)
I paid $18 million and this new bill comes as a shock because as
a family, our water is for domestic purposes only," she said.
CHRA last week
encouraged Harare residents to boycott payment of rates until new
elections for the city are held.
It is not the
first time that Zinwa has bungled. Early this year, the water authority
reversed high water tariffs it had charged commercial farmers after
a national outcry, which forced government to intervene.
Meanwhile, Zanu
PF Harare province has called for the ouster of the chairperson
of the Commission running the affairs of Harare, Sekesai Makwavarara,
saying she was liability.
Zimbabwe’s extravagant
but totally inept political turncoat last week suspended Town Clerk,
Nomutsa Chideya, allegedly for incompetence.
Other than high
water bills, Harare residents are up in arms against frequent power
cuts. Several people have lost electrical gadgets such as DVD players,
TVs, Radio and fridges as a result of power surges by the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa).
Zesa spokesperson,
James Maridadi, said most people in high-density areas were actually
paying less money than the power utility uses to send statements
to residents.
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