News / National
Harare Mayor apologises over dirty water
29 Dec 2017 at 17:44hrs | Views
The Mayor of Harare Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni has apologised to Harare residents and requested citizens to exercise caution until council finds a lasting solution to providing quality water provision.
This emerged during a media briefing at the Town House where Councillor Manyenyeni sought to explain to residents over Harare water which does not pass the eye test.
At such a time when the President, Emmerson Mnangagwa is saying all local authorities should improve their service delivery, Harare City Council is one of the major examples that highlight the need of a radical shift to focus on the health of the citizens.
Social media videos of Harare residents filling up containers with water just to highlight its unhealthiness as it turns green and often is smelly which is now a common sight.
In the middle of this impasse, council has maintained its water is clean and safe to drink.
The reality of the facts though, are the 60 year old Morton Jaffray water works plant, Harare City depends upon, was designed to cater for 300 000 people instead of the current over 2 million people now resident in Harare.
The city also has an infrastructure deficit of 30 years and this alone has caused persistent discontent over the failure to provide safe and clean water.
Distraught Harare residents said it appears their concerns are no longer valued by council despite the urgency of the matter leaving them to opt for borehole water which sometimes is a distant away.
Mayor Manyenyeni noted he is aware of the challenges in water provision hinting council is spending more than it is generating and that he has limited powers to overturn decisions made by the board.
He however called for caution as the city engages into measures to ensure it produces quality water.
This is the water that people in Harare live to endure and the problem has become the order of the day.
This emerged during a media briefing at the Town House where Councillor Manyenyeni sought to explain to residents over Harare water which does not pass the eye test.
At such a time when the President, Emmerson Mnangagwa is saying all local authorities should improve their service delivery, Harare City Council is one of the major examples that highlight the need of a radical shift to focus on the health of the citizens.
Social media videos of Harare residents filling up containers with water just to highlight its unhealthiness as it turns green and often is smelly which is now a common sight.
In the middle of this impasse, council has maintained its water is clean and safe to drink.
The reality of the facts though, are the 60 year old Morton Jaffray water works plant, Harare City depends upon, was designed to cater for 300 000 people instead of the current over 2 million people now resident in Harare.
The city also has an infrastructure deficit of 30 years and this alone has caused persistent discontent over the failure to provide safe and clean water.
Distraught Harare residents said it appears their concerns are no longer valued by council despite the urgency of the matter leaving them to opt for borehole water which sometimes is a distant away.
Mayor Manyenyeni noted he is aware of the challenges in water provision hinting council is spending more than it is generating and that he has limited powers to overturn decisions made by the board.
He however called for caution as the city engages into measures to ensure it produces quality water.
This is the water that people in Harare live to endure and the problem has become the order of the day.
Source - zbc
