News / Local
Bulawayo battles to seal off water leaks
18 Jun 2014 at 06:13hrs | Views
SOME western suburbs of Bulawayo were without water yesterday due to leaks at Magwegwe Reservoir and a burst pipe along Hyde Park Road.
The affected suburbs include Pumula, Magwegwe, Pelandaba, Lobengula, Mpopoma and Mabutweni.
Mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo told Chronicle yesterday that council is battling to locate and seal off the leak at Magwegwe Reservoir.
"The leak at Magwegwe is an old problem we are dealing with. Engineers are on site and so far they have checked one compartment and are continuing with other compartments in order to locate and close the leak," said Clr Moyo.
The mayor could not categorically state when residents can expect normal water supplies to be restored saying engineers were on the ground and are expected to deal with the problem "soon."
On the other hand, residents said a pipe along Hyde Park Road burst on Monday afternoon and a report was promptly made to council but the problem had not been rectified more than 24 hours later.
When the Chronicle news crew visited the area yesterday afternoon, water was still leaking from the same pipe.
An Old Pumula resident, Phebion Mlalazi questioned the municipality's workers on why they were taking long to stop the leaks.
He further blasted council officials for alleged inefficiency and poor management.
"I don't understand how water can be allowed to leak for more than 24 hours when everybody knows that water is a scarce resource in the city. We are going to pay for this water through penalties and a stricter water shedding regime," said Mlalazi.
Some desperate residents who were fetching water that was gushing out of the burst pipe were also bombarding council workers with questions, but they had no convincing answers.
"We slept here trying to stop the leak but our maps do not show the valve we are supposed to close to stop the leak," one council employee told residents.
His explanation drew an angry response from the crowd who questioned why they were being paid when they were failing to do their work.
The affected suburbs include Pumula, Magwegwe, Pelandaba, Lobengula, Mpopoma and Mabutweni.
Mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo told Chronicle yesterday that council is battling to locate and seal off the leak at Magwegwe Reservoir.
"The leak at Magwegwe is an old problem we are dealing with. Engineers are on site and so far they have checked one compartment and are continuing with other compartments in order to locate and close the leak," said Clr Moyo.
The mayor could not categorically state when residents can expect normal water supplies to be restored saying engineers were on the ground and are expected to deal with the problem "soon."
On the other hand, residents said a pipe along Hyde Park Road burst on Monday afternoon and a report was promptly made to council but the problem had not been rectified more than 24 hours later.
An Old Pumula resident, Phebion Mlalazi questioned the municipality's workers on why they were taking long to stop the leaks.
He further blasted council officials for alleged inefficiency and poor management.
"I don't understand how water can be allowed to leak for more than 24 hours when everybody knows that water is a scarce resource in the city. We are going to pay for this water through penalties and a stricter water shedding regime," said Mlalazi.
Some desperate residents who were fetching water that was gushing out of the burst pipe were also bombarding council workers with questions, but they had no convincing answers.
"We slept here trying to stop the leak but our maps do not show the valve we are supposed to close to stop the leak," one council employee told residents.
His explanation drew an angry response from the crowd who questioned why they were being paid when they were failing to do their work.
Source - chronicle
