Discrepancies in water supply between Redcliff suburbs irks residents

REDCLIFF - Residents of Redcliff town - the home of the now defunct Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) - have expressed serious concerns over what they term, 'discrepancies in water supply between the town's suburbs', demanding an explanation from the town authorities.

According to some residents who spoke to this reporter, Rutendo high density suburb received water supply throughout the day, whilst Redcliff low density suburb only received water in the mornings and evenings.

'Why is that we, in Redcliff suburb, only get water twice a day - in the mornings and evenings - but our fellow residents in Rutendo get water throughout the day?

'Is there some favouritism going on here? We need answers, ' complained a resident who only identified himself as Allen.

Another resident, who requested anonymity, alleged that the discrepancy was due to the fact that most municipal workers resided in Rutendo.

'You know what mukoma Tendai, it's plain to see what's going on here. Most municipal workers live in Rutendo. So they would favour themselves above the rest of us.

'Their wives would be angry if they had to spend the day looking for water. So, naturally, they would rather they let Rutendo have water supply throughout the day.'

One of the vendors at Redcliff shopping centre, who apparently stays in Rutendo, also voiced concern over this anomaly, saying that it was not fair.

'I stay in Rutendo, but when I come here to sell my wares, I have to endure the lack of toilet facilities as there would be no water throughout the day. This really inconveniences me.

'If they (municipality) think they're doing Rutendo residents a favour, then they're wrong, as some of us make our living in Redcliff.'

Mai Tonde, who residents in Redcliff, said that it was so painful to discover that whilst they did not have water, other residents of the same town would be having plenty.

'I call that very unfair. Some of us have babies and need to do nappy laundry several times a day.

'We find it difficult to manage this as we would not have sufficient water for the task.

'I would have understood if the whole town was being similarly affected. But to discover that there are some who get water throughout the day, whilst we don't, is too hard a pill to swallow.'

Another Redcliff resident who refused to be named alleged that the municipality had a misconstrued notion that Redcliff residents were wealthier than their Rutendo counterparts, as such could afford water containers, such as JoJo's.

'I believe these guys at the municipality think that we're wealthy here, so we can afford JoJo's and drilling of boreholes.

'It's a pity that they have such a wrong idea. All they need to do is go around and see how many households actually have JoJo's and boreholes. They would find out that it's just a handful.

'We are all suffering in this town, irrespective of where we stay.'

He further lamented the expenses he had to endure in buying plastic water containers, just so that his family could has sufficient water for each day.

'We are all struggling mukoma. It's really unfair if some of us have to folk out the meagre cash we have to buy water containers, as a result of us not having water supply for most of the day, but others don't have worry about that, as they're provided water throughout the day. It hurts to think of such unfairness. Council should rectify that problem.'

'Our days are now planned according to water supply, such that we fail to meet other obligations, as we have to make sure that we wake up early to collect water, water the garden, wash the dishes, do the laundry, and bath, whilst the water is still coming out of the taps.

'The water supply is between 5am and 8am, so we have to fit all that in those three hours.

'We no longer have time for anything else during that time, yet we also need to prepare our children for school and then also prepare ourselves for work. It's cumbersome, to say the least,' said a Mai Ndlovu from Redcliff.

She queried why the same was spared Rutendo residents, who would have water supply anytime they needed it.

'Does it mean there are residents who are more special than others?'

Baba Murenga also raised concerns over this set-up, saying if there was to be any favouritism, then Redcliff residents should be the ones favoured as they paid more rates to council.

'I'm not supporting any favouritism whatsoever, but if this council feels that it needs to favour some residents above others, then Redcliff residents should be favoured because we pay more rates to the council.'

Another dimension was added to the issue by Norman, who alleged that it was all a political gimmick to win votes, as Rutendo was larger than Redcliff, as such a good base to secure votes during elections.

'Rutendo is huge. So imagine getting overwhelming support in that area. Redcliff votes then pale into insignificance. This is plainly vote buying.'
 
A community activist in the town attributed the issue to corruption, saying that there was really no plausible reason why a scarce and inalienable resource like water should be unevenly distributed.

'We all understand the problems our local authorities throughout the country are facing concerning delivery of water, but we expect them to be fair and just in their distribution of this finite resource.

'Every person's right to safe, clean and potable water is enshrined in our country's constitution, so I see no reasonable explanation as to why such a resource should not be evenly distributed.

'If a decision is made to ration water supply, whatever the reasons, then it should be done equitably.

'Are they (the municipality) insinuating that there are residents who are more important than others? I suspect corrupt dealings and favouritism are at the heart of this. We will investigate this matter.'

However, some Rutendo residents had contrary views as to the reasons behind this alleged segregation.

A woman who only identified herself as Mai Tafadzwa, said that the reason was probably because of the high density of the population in Rutendo.

'An average house in Rutendo has lodgers in each room. So you're looking at three or four families residing in the same house.

'Imagine the chaos that would be there if there was no water most of the day. It would be disaster. Toilets would be clogged.'

Edward Moyo, another resident of Rutendo concurred with Mai Tafadzwa, saying that if there was no water supply in Rutendo for the greater part of the day, there would be a disease outbreak in the suburb.

'Tinofa muno vakasatipa mvura (we would all die here if they didn't give us water throughout the day). There would be an outbreak of cholera, as toilets would be blocked due to the vast numbers of people staying at each house.'

Redcliff town is divided into three suburbs, namely Rutendo, Torwood and Redcliff.

Efforts to get a comment from the Town Engineer were fruitless at the time of writing this article, as he had not responded to questions sent to him.