News / National
Bulawayo Residents Association calls for a shutdown of schools
10 Jul 2019 at 03:55hrs | Views
The Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BUPRA) is calling for a shutdown of schools until the water situation returns to normalcy in Bulawayo. It is further calling for heads to roll in council and for relevant powers to declare a State of Emergency
Below is the:
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE CONTINUED WATER CRISIS IN BULAWAYO
As the residents of Bulawayo, we are alarmed by the continued water crisis in Bulawayo and the failure by the Bulawayo City Council to adhere to timelines and to come up with PLAN B.
The water situation intensified on the 1st of July when BCC announced that it was carrying out major rehabilitation on the Criterion Water Treatment Plant to improve supply of water in the city.
While we appreciate the importance of the rehabilitation program, we are very much concerned by the fact that we are now on day 8 since the rehabilitation project commenced with only 50% of the work having been done so far.
Residents were bombarded with the first notice of the shutdown on the 11 of July, a day before the water shedding commenced which was supposed to end on the 6' of July 2019.
There are a number of areas that have not received a drop of water or come across any council water bowsers in their neighborhoods since the project commenced and these areas include parts of Cowdray Park, Tshabalala, Sizinda and Newton West.
In other areas water supply returned for less than 3 hours, thereby not giving residents adequate time to stock up water reserves. During the few hours that water supply was temporarily restored, residents were given the impression that the water situation had normalized due to an information blackout from BCC, only for BCC to further impose another indefinite water shutdown.
The water problem has been worsened by the fact that some boreholes in areas such as Sizinda have gone dry with promised council water bowlers nowhere to be seen.
In Magwegwe water bowlers were sighted yesterday providing water to ZESA employees. Some residents have resorted to destroying council water pipes searching for water.
The situation has posed a health scare in public institutions such as schools and placed a considerable burden on ordinary residents as they are forced to spend long productive hours queuing for water.
Bulawayo is therefore in utmost danger of a cholera and typhoid outbreak. This reflects poor planning and management of water resources by BCC. Given the continued failure to finalize the project and scanty information from BCC and the failure by BCC to provide PLAN B.
BPRA is calling for a shutdown of schools until the situation returns to normalcy. BPRA is further calling for heads to roll in council and for relevant powers to declare a State of Emergency in Bulawayo.
Below is the:
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE CONTINUED WATER CRISIS IN BULAWAYO
As the residents of Bulawayo, we are alarmed by the continued water crisis in Bulawayo and the failure by the Bulawayo City Council to adhere to timelines and to come up with PLAN B.
The water situation intensified on the 1st of July when BCC announced that it was carrying out major rehabilitation on the Criterion Water Treatment Plant to improve supply of water in the city.
While we appreciate the importance of the rehabilitation program, we are very much concerned by the fact that we are now on day 8 since the rehabilitation project commenced with only 50% of the work having been done so far.
Residents were bombarded with the first notice of the shutdown on the 11 of July, a day before the water shedding commenced which was supposed to end on the 6' of July 2019.
In other areas water supply returned for less than 3 hours, thereby not giving residents adequate time to stock up water reserves. During the few hours that water supply was temporarily restored, residents were given the impression that the water situation had normalized due to an information blackout from BCC, only for BCC to further impose another indefinite water shutdown.
The water problem has been worsened by the fact that some boreholes in areas such as Sizinda have gone dry with promised council water bowlers nowhere to be seen.
In Magwegwe water bowlers were sighted yesterday providing water to ZESA employees. Some residents have resorted to destroying council water pipes searching for water.
The situation has posed a health scare in public institutions such as schools and placed a considerable burden on ordinary residents as they are forced to spend long productive hours queuing for water.
Bulawayo is therefore in utmost danger of a cholera and typhoid outbreak. This reflects poor planning and management of water resources by BCC. Given the continued failure to finalize the project and scanty information from BCC and the failure by BCC to provide PLAN B.
BPRA is calling for a shutdown of schools until the situation returns to normalcy. BPRA is further calling for heads to roll in council and for relevant powers to declare a State of Emergency in Bulawayo.
Source - Byo24News
