Water crisis hits Kuwadzana Extension

A health time bomb is ticking in Harare’s Kuwadzana Extension high density suburb where residents have gone for more than two months without water. 

Women and children from the suburb have to wake up as early as 4 am to queue for the precious liquid which they are fetching from unprotected sources.

When this news crew visited the suburb, women were patiently waiting for water to slowly come out of an unprotected fountain they discovered in their neighbourhood.

They said they are living in fear of disease outbreaks and the situation must be addressed by the Harare City Council as quickly as possible.

Some of the residents said they are baffled why the city fathers have continued charging them rates for a service they are not receiving.

“We continue to receive water bills from council. How do they expect us to pay for a service they are giving us?” said one of the residents.

In a telephone interview, Harare City Council Town Clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi attributed the water shortage to the rehabilitation of the Morton Jaffrey Water Works where more than nine pump sets have been removed to pave way for the installation of new ones.

On 28 July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognised the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realisation of all human rights.

The Harare City Council and the Chitungwiza Town Council have on a number of occasions been castigated for depriving their residents of the precious liquid putting them at risk of contracting all sorts of water borne and diarrheal diseases. ZBC