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Sleeping in queues for water
Fungi Kwaramba, The Zimbabwean
September 30, 2011

View this article on The Zimbabwean website

Residents of Unit O, N, P, L and M have been the worst affected by the water unavailability and are relying on boreholes that were drilled by UNICEF at the height of the cholera outbreak in 2008/9.

"I have to be at the borehole just before midnight otherwise I will not have the chance to get water," said Barbara Mupindu of Unit M.

Hundreds of residents compete for the scarce commodity at a UNICEF drilled borehole at St Edens Primary school and in order to get water, they must sleep in the queue.

Chitungwiza Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman, Arthur Taderera, said that the water situation in Chitungwiza was a cause for concern.

"Because of water shortages a health time bomb is slowly ticking. We may have the situation that we had in 2008 if the situation does not improve. There is need for new water sources and for the town council to be more responsive when it is not available," said Taderera.

Chitungwiza was the epicenter of the 2008 cholera outbreak that killed at least 4 000 people.

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