Water rehabilitation to avert cholera in Beitbridge

Zimbabwe's Beitbridge border town with South Africa will benefit from an emergency water and waste water rehabilitation project after having been severely hit by the 2008/9 cholera epidemic.
According to reliable town council sources, the World Bank, through the State and Peace Building Trust Fund (SPF) and the government of Zimbabwe will finance the project.

The project has been necessitated by the fact that Beitbridge town alone accounted for 26% of the cholera cases in Zimbabwe in 2008/9.
"Unless the water supply and sanitation services are restored urgently, the residents face a further risk of another cholera outbreak," a town council official confirmed.

The Beitbridge Town Council is the primary implementing agency and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) is responsible for the rehabilitation of part of the water supply component of the project.

The direct beneficiaries are the permanent and transit residents of Beitbridge town.
Zimbabwe shares the Beitbridge border post with neighbouring South Africa. There has been a marked exodus of Zimbabweans into South Africa putting pressure on service delivery at the border town.
Activities to be carried out under the project will include water supply rehabilitation, sewage treatment including solid waste disposal.

The Beitbridge Town Council confirmed that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the project has been approved and the project is ready to move to the implementing stage.