Maravi

(THE HERALD) Council sabotaged us: Zinwa

Council sabotaged us: Zinwa
Municipal Reporter

THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority has alleged that the Harare City Council sabotaged its operations when it transferred employees who had never worked in the city’s water department to the authority. Zinwa took over the wholesale management of water and sewer reticulation from council with effect from December 1 last year. The Minister of Water and Infrastructural Development, Engineer Munacho Mutezo, made the accusations yesterday when he addressed community leaders in Harare during a meeting organised by the Ministry of State for Public and Interactive Affairs.

Six of the employees present at the meeting
confirmed that they had never worked in the water and sewer department. They alleged victimisation by some council officials simply because they were war veterans. When Zinwa discovered the employees were not suitable for the tasks, it referred them back to council but they were spurned and have been jobless for the past three months.

Some of the employees told the meeting that they were working at the Mbare Musika long distance bus terminus operating boom gates and receipting cash in the housing and community services department. Eng Mutezo said council refused to release the right people for the job.

A meeting between the Deputy Minister of Water and Infrastructural Development, Cde Walter Mzembi, and council officials to resolve the issue is expected this morning.

Eng Mutezo said Zinwa would reinvest profits derived from water and sewer services into infrastructure development in a move that would guarantee uninterrupted service delivery. This means profits generated in Harare or Bulawayo would be used specifically to improve water and sewer reticulation in those cities. He said Zinwa would ensure the replacement of outdated infrastructure. Eng Mutezo lamented the management of water and sewer reticulation under local authorities, saying councils failed to plough back profits generated into water and sewer development.

The minister said some of the resistance that had surrounded the Zinwa takeover emanated from the fact that water was a cash cow for the majority of councils and that some individuals in the councils used water for personal enrichment. "The money from water has not been reinvested into water and sewer. The money was used to support other essential services," he said.

Eng Mutezo said Zinwa had taken over all the debts and loans related to the water and sewer infrastructure. He said his ministry was pushing for a single water tariff across the country but would ensure that the poor were subsidised.

Cde Mzembi alleged that some suppliers of water treatment chemicals were providing unsuitable chemicals. He said workers at Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant had told him that hundreds of tonnes of algae kill were still being supplied when the chemical was no longer useful. Harare Metropolitan Resident Minister and Governor Cde David Karimanzira concurred that local authorities abused money from water and sewer services. He said Zinwa took over when the situation was already crumbling.

The Minister of State for Public and Interactive Affairs, Cde Chen Chimute-ngwende, whose ministry organised the meeting between Zinwa and stakeholders, said the formal gathering was to foster dialogue between the State and its development partners.

"It goes without saying that the Government of Zimbabwe’s important partners are the people themselves. It is the people who put the Government in power, and the Government is committed to fulfilling its promise to attend to the people’s problems and to listen to their suggestions for improving their social and economic conditions," he said.

The stakeholders promised to work with Zinwa to resolve the water and sewer problems. They also pledged to alert the Government of saboteurs vandalising water and sewer valves.

In a related matter, Cde Mzembi said significant progress was made over the weekend to fill up the city’s water reservoirs. "Alex Park is 38 percent full while Letombo is at 77 percent. We are pumping more to Alex Park today (yesterday) and we expect it to gain. We have also cut off the northern suburbs (Marlborough and Mabelreign) to channel most of the flow to Alex Park," he said. He said the Greendale reservoirs were still low but water was being pumped to Kambanji and surrounding suburbs. "We continue pumping from Letombo and we expect Glen Lorne, Kambanji, Chisipite and The Grange to access water today (yesterday)," said Eng Mutezo.

Labels: PUBLIC AMENITIES, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 7:50 PM