News / National
Gwanda Town Water supply to be reconnected tomorrow morning
03 Aug 2021 at 13:59hrs | Views
WATER supply in Gwanda Town is expected to have been reconnected latest by tomorrow morning.
In an interview, Gwanda Municipality Mayor, Councillor Njabulo Siziba said the local authority had engaged the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) which had indicated that water would have been reconnected either this evening or tomorrow morning.
"As I speak, we are a finalising talks with Zinwa but it's promising. Indications are that Zinwa will have reconnected water latest by tomorrow morning or they will reconnect this evening. In the meantime, we would like to urge rate payers to pay their water bills so that we can also clear the debt we owe Zinwa," he said.
Gwanda Town has gone for five days without water after Zinwa disconnected water supply to Gwanda Municipality on Thursday morning over a $193 million debt leaving residents from the mining town with no water supply.
Zinwa has embarked on a massive water disconnection exercise to recover $2,4 billion it is owed by consumers. The exercise targets Government departments, local authorities and other consumers whose accounts are in arrears.
Meanwhile residents in Gwanda have been forced to rely on few boreholes dotted around the town.
Gwanda Residents Association deputy secretary general Wellington Nare said Zinwa and council had to find a way to resolve the issue which did not affect residents. He said with the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic the boreholes which residents were now crowding to collect water might become hotspots of the pandemic.
In May Zinwa dragged the Gwanda Municipality to court for failing to pay a water bill of nearly $140 million which had accumulated over the past five years.
On Wednesday last week, Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager, Mrs Marjorie Munyonga, said Government departments and other affected institutions have since been advised to clear their arrears or face disconnection.
She said of the total debt, Government departments owe more than $1 billion, local authorities more than $500 million, irrigators nearly $400 million while domestic clients account for more than $ 200 million while the other clients such as parastatals, mines, industry, schools and churches account for the remainder of the amount.
Mrs Munyonga said the non-payment of water bills by clients has adversely affected the authority's operations. As a result of non-payment of water bills, Mrs Munyonga said, the authority has not been able to timely service statutory obligations which include taxes, levies, payment of creditors and staff salaries.
In an interview, Gwanda Municipality Mayor, Councillor Njabulo Siziba said the local authority had engaged the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) which had indicated that water would have been reconnected either this evening or tomorrow morning.
"As I speak, we are a finalising talks with Zinwa but it's promising. Indications are that Zinwa will have reconnected water latest by tomorrow morning or they will reconnect this evening. In the meantime, we would like to urge rate payers to pay their water bills so that we can also clear the debt we owe Zinwa," he said.
Gwanda Town has gone for five days without water after Zinwa disconnected water supply to Gwanda Municipality on Thursday morning over a $193 million debt leaving residents from the mining town with no water supply.
Zinwa has embarked on a massive water disconnection exercise to recover $2,4 billion it is owed by consumers. The exercise targets Government departments, local authorities and other consumers whose accounts are in arrears.
Meanwhile residents in Gwanda have been forced to rely on few boreholes dotted around the town.
Gwanda Residents Association deputy secretary general Wellington Nare said Zinwa and council had to find a way to resolve the issue which did not affect residents. He said with the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic the boreholes which residents were now crowding to collect water might become hotspots of the pandemic.
In May Zinwa dragged the Gwanda Municipality to court for failing to pay a water bill of nearly $140 million which had accumulated over the past five years.
On Wednesday last week, Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager, Mrs Marjorie Munyonga, said Government departments and other affected institutions have since been advised to clear their arrears or face disconnection.
She said of the total debt, Government departments owe more than $1 billion, local authorities more than $500 million, irrigators nearly $400 million while domestic clients account for more than $ 200 million while the other clients such as parastatals, mines, industry, schools and churches account for the remainder of the amount.
Mrs Munyonga said the non-payment of water bills by clients has adversely affected the authority's operations. As a result of non-payment of water bills, Mrs Munyonga said, the authority has not been able to timely service statutory obligations which include taxes, levies, payment of creditors and staff salaries.
Source - chronicle
