Gwanda health time bomb as thousands resort to bush for toilet

A critical health time bomb continues to count down in Gwanda as the town entered its sixth day without water today.

Water supply to the town was cut off on Saturday morning at the Zimbabwe National Water Authority pump station to replace some old pumps. They pump station is the sole water pump station to the nearly 60 000 people in Gwanda.

Council went out on Friday advising residents to hoard enough water as supply would be cut off and restored within a period of 48 hours. The job has since taken five days and the town remains without water.

Scores of residents have since resorted to using the bushes around the town to answer the call of nature. The bushes are now so full of human waste that cholera outbreak is only a matter of time.

The little water that the residents had gathered for the expected 48 hour period has since been used up in most households. Several residents have been seen making their way to the killer Mtshabezi river to fetch untreated water for their domestic use.

Several people have drowned in the notorious river believed to be holding spirits that swallow people into the river in the form of a mermaid. The water at the river is also heavily contaminated by illegal gold panners who use the upstream waters to process their gold.

The Gwanda Residents Association has since castigated the council for poor planning in carrying out the works.

Speaking in a local radio station news bulletin on Tuesday, the Secretary of the Residents Association Mr Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo said that council should have found an alternative way of carrying out the repairs with minimum inconvenience to the residents.

"While we appreciate the need for the repairs but proper planning would have allowed minimal inconvenience to the residents and avoided the risk of diseases that are now bound to break out in the town.

Comment could not be obtained from the town engineer who was said to be on leave. However, a council official at the engineering department said that water supplies should normalise within the best two days. The official said that some areas particularly in the CBD and low lying areas have since started receiving water.
[1/13/2016, 14:09] Fuzwayo: Gwanda health time bomb as thousands resort to bush for toilet

Staff Reporter

A critical health time bomb continues to count down in Gwanda as the town entered its sixth day without water today.

Water supply to the town was cut off on Saturday morning at the Zimbabwe National Water Authority pump station to replace some old pumps. They pump station is the sole water pump station to the nearly 60 000 people in Gwanda.

Council went out on Friday advising residents to hoard enough water as supply would be cut off and restored within a period of 48 hours. The job has since taken five days and the town remains without water.

Scores of residents have since resorted to using the bushes around the town to answer the call of nature. The bushes are now so full of human waste that cholera outbreak is only a matter of time.

The little water that the residents had gathered for the expected 48 hour period has since been used up in most households. Several residents have been seen making their way to the killer Mtshabezi river to fetch untreated water for their domestic use.

Several people have drowned in the notorious river believed to be holding spirits that swallow people into the river in the form of a mermaid. The water at the river is also heavily contaminated by illegal gold panners who use the upstream waters to process their gold.

The Gwanda Residents Association has since castigated the council for poor planning in carrying out the works.

Speaking in a local radio station news bulletin on Tuesday, the Secretary of the Residents Association Mr Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo said that council should have found an alternative way of carrying out the repairs with minimum inconvenience to the residents.

"While we appreciate the need for the repairs but proper planning would have allowed minimal inconvenience to the residents and avoided the risk of diseases that are now bound to break out in the town," he said.

Comment could not be obtained from the town engineer who was said to be on leave. However, a council official at the engineering department said that water supplies should normalise within the best two days. The official said that some areas particularly in the CBD and low lying areas have since started receiving water.