(GLOBALRESEARCH) Water Privatization Overlooked as Factor in Egypt’s Revolt
Mubarak's water policies contributed to the Arab Spring Protest movement
By Karen Piper
Global Research, January 06, 2014
Rising water prices forced some Egyptians to draw water from polluted canals. (Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy under a Creative Commons license from flickr.com)
The American media focused mainly on internal corruption and oppression [as causes of the Arab Spring revolution last year]. They did not report on the role of the international superpowers in influencing the Mubarak regime to privatize the country’s public land and water; they did not report, for instance, that since the 1990s the World Bank has argued that privatization enhances “efficiency” and has mandated the policy as a condition for making loans; and that in 2004 this mandate led the Egyptian government to privatize its water utilities, transforming them into corporations which were required to operate at a profit, and which thus began to practice “full cost recovery”— passing along the cost of new infrastructure through rate increases.
Within months of privatization, the price of water doubled in some areas of Cairo, and citizens started to protest. At one demonstration in northern Cairo, in 2005, “angry residents chased bill collectors down the streets.” Those who could not afford the new rates had little choice but to go to the city’s outskirts to collect water from the dirty Nile River canals.
In 2007, protestors in the Nile Delta blocked the main coastal road after the regional water company diverted water from farming and fishing towns to affluent resort communities. “The authorities sent riot police to put down these ‘disturbances,’” wrote Philip Marfleet, a professor at the University of East London, even as “water flowed uninterrupted to the gated communities, and to country clubs and upmarket resorts of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.”
In the next few years such demonstrations only grew in intensity. As activist Abdel Mawla Ismail has noted, “Thirst protests or intifadas, as some people have called them, started to represent a new path for a social movement.” From this path the revolution that consumed the nation in 2011 seems inevitable. People can live in poverty for a long time; they cannot live without water.
Here is Karen Piper’s full essay Revolution of the Thirsty on the Design Observer Group website. Also posted on Global Research
An English professor at the University of Missouri in Columbia, she is now at work on a book about water privatization.
Labels: NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATISATION, WATER
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A near disaster toxic cyanide saga . . . as Harare City Council dominates local authorities’ misdemeanours
Sunday, 30 December 2012 00:30
In-Depth Reporter
The year 2012 was another difficult year for the Harare City Council which dominated headlines especially when it battled a potentially disastrous toxic cyanide saga. To sum it up, the year was action packed.
The hottest saga that could have resulted in a national disaster was the delivery of toxic cyanide to Harare’s main waterworks.
About 19 tonnes of poisonous sodium cyanide could have been used at Harare’s main waterworks had alarm not been raised by an alert council employee as it was about to be offloaded.
The near-disaster resulted in the appointment of a seven member probe team.
Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Dr Ignatius Chombo tasked the team to look into the awarding of tenders relating to the purchase and importation of water treatment chemicals.
Council tenders came under the spotlight. The poison saga deepened and later spilled into the courts were the driver of the truck and the manager of the transport company were arrested.
Councillor Julius Musevenzi of ward 15 was also suspended from council due to alleged corruption in the procurement of water treatment chemicals.
Shortages of tap water for the past decade continued to frustrate millions of residents who pay rates to council for service delivery. The water shortages were the major cause of the typhoid outbreak. People have resorted to drinking water from unprotected sources.
The typhoid outbreak in Harare brings back the sad memories of the 2008 cholera outbreak that claimed thousands of lives across the country
The major issue that led to the persistent water shortages has always been lack of funding.
The Harare council came out in the open, stating that it lacks the capacity to solve the water woes largely because of the ballooning population.
Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda reported that he was dismayed by the pronouncements made by the Minister of Water Resources Management,
Mr Sipepa Nkomo that local authorities should not make residents pay for the use of the first six cubic (6 000) litres of water per month.
The Mayor noted that these comments are unfortunate as the council would lose around US$624 000 through such an initiative every month for water services.
Water problems were evident in Bulawayo with the municipality resorting to water cuts. Bulawayo council had decommissioned two of its dams while some projects continue to be at a standstill.
In Chinhoyi, service delivery still remains compromised with the town facing water problems. In Bindura, water shortages are perennial.
Harare also made headlines after the city fathers snubbed Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe’s proposal where she called upon the city to offer free maternity services Car dealers left in the cold.
Car dealers got the shock of their lives when council descended on unregistered car sales, towing away vehicles and pulling down building structures.
The exercise is still on-going. There are over 200 car sales operating in the city, but it has emerged that only 58 were approved by the council to do business in the city.
The illegal operations by the car sales have led to the city closing the valuation and licensing department and suspending all workers in the department.
The workers are facing disciplinary hearings on allegations of corruptly allocating land to the car sales.
Most of the demolished structures are along Enterprise, Mutare and Prince Edward roads.
On a positive note, Harare was commended for bringing sanity in the Central Business District by decongesting the area.
A blitz was jointly conducted by the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Harare city council in a bid to restore sanity at commuter ranks.
Council recruited 80 personnel from the Municipal Traffic Police who were deployed to operate at the ranks, replacing private security companies.
Pirate taxis have since re-emerged in the CBD to fill in the gap left by the commuter omnibuses. Away from Harare, it is clear that most authorities are entering the New Year with dirty hands.
Mutare remains without a mayor after the suspension of Mayor Brian James on allegations of misconduct and misappropriation of funds.
He is alleged to have sought legal advice on a personal matter using council funds and hired a South African company KV3 to help craft council budget at a cost of US$48 000 which is against the Urban Council’s Act.
The matter is still pending before the courts Gwanda Mayor Lionel De Necker was suspended for defying ministerial directives.The MDC-T also cracked the whip on its councillors and suspended 12 councillors on allegations of corruption.
Chitungwiza was marred by strikes by both residents who were protesting against poor service delivery and workers who were bemoaning low salaries.
The workers had gone for months without salaries while residents say 87 percent of the council’s revenue should not be channelled towards remunerating the employees at the expense of service delivery.
Chitungwiza municipality has also resorted to reclaiming the beer halls that they had leased.
Labels: HARARE CITY COUNCIL, WATER
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Clean water can cut diarrhoea by 21% - Oguntola
By Gift Chanda
Tue 16 Oct. 2012, 11:50 CAT
THE UN's Economic Commission for Africa says simple interventions such as washing hands and safe drinking water storage can reduce diarrhoea incidences by as much 35 per cent.
Speaking on the occasion of the Global Handwashing Day yesterday, ECA senior regional advisor in charge of Integrated Water Resources Management, Johnson Oguntola, said improved water supply reduces 21 per cent of diarrhoeal disease rates and 38 per cent when providing basic sanitation facilities.
"The risk factor; 'water, sanitation and hygiene' comprises a number of interrelated transmission pathways, composed of competing or complementing events for causing disease. Fecal-oral diseases account for an important part of this disease burden," said Oguntola, adding that the ideal situation is to provide access to clean water and safe sanitation for everyone to reduce transmission of diarrhoeal disease through water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
Zambia yesterday joined the rest of the world in commemorating Global Handwashing Day.
The celebration was symbolically marked by setting up two hand-washing stations outside the UN House, where visitors and passers-by were encouraged to perform the hand-washing "ritual".
According to ECA, the significance of hand-washing was traced to the failure to provide improved water supply services and safe sanitation services to billions of people worldwide.
The Millennium Development Goal which seeks to "reduce by half the proportion of people without access to improved water sources and safe sanitation" was meant to address this problem.
Labels: WATER
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Police investigate water poisoning
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 00:00
Michael Chideme and Daniel Nemukuyu
Police have opened investigations into last week’s delivery of a poisonous chemical to Harare’s main waterworks. The law enforcement agents sent a docket to the Attorney General’s Office for advice on how best to proceed with the matter. The AG’s Office will determine the appropriate charges that those responsible for the boob would face.
A senior officer from the AG’s Office, Mr Morgan Dube, yesterday confirmed receiving the docket. He said there was a chain of people linked to the case and that the office required time to study the papers before deciding its next move.
“Yes, I confirm that the docket has reached our office and we are still going through it,” said Mr Dube.
“We would want to find out who among the many names implicated is culpable and determine the appropriate charge in the circumstances.”
At least 19 tonnes of the deadly sodium cyanide were delivered to Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant on Wednesday last week. But the driver of the truck carrying the deadly chemical raised alarm before workers could off load it into drums in preparation for “treating” water.
The workers were expecting to receive liquid aluminium sulphate water treatment chemical on the day.
The opening of the docket comes as more details emerge on the case.
The truck carrying the sodium cyanide was clearly marked “poisonous” which observers said was enough to raise attention before it reached Morton Jaffray.
Also see
* Poison delivered for water treatment
There are also counter-accusations between the clearing agent and the transporter.
Harare residents yesterday roundly condemned the delivery, while expressing fear of the disaster that could have ensued if the chemical was used.
Freight World cleared the sodium cyanide at Forbes Border Post, with LA Cargo eventually being tasked with transporting it to Morton Jaffray. Freight World managing director, Mr Felix Nyaruwanga yesterday blamed the mix-up on LA Cargo.
He said the company’s transport manager and the driver were to blame for delivering a wrong chemical to the city.
Mr Nyaruwanga labelled the driver “stupid” for having driven a truck that was clearly marked “poisonous” to Morton Jaffray.
“The transporter mixed the paperwork. He put the proof of delivery indicating aluminum sulphate on top of the manifest written sodium cyanide,” he said.
“The transport manager did not practise due care.
“He did not check the proof of delivery which read aluminum sulphate, while the transport manifest read sodium cyanide.”
Asked how the chemical found its way to Morton Jaffray, Mr Nyaruwanga said as clearing agents they process everything electronically and never see the product.
“We only deal with documents,” he said.
“None of us see the product before it reaches the City of Harare.”
Mr Nyaruwanga said they had shown the police how the documents were swapped.
But LA Cargo official Mr Apronis Mupakaviri said the blame should be on Freight World who issued wrong delivery instructions to the driver.
“We sub-contracted the delivery to Astra and the driver was given delivery instructions from Freight World,” he said.
Mr Mupakaviri refused to entertain any further questions. Harare residents called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
Mr Callistas Dzamara said: “It was going to be a disaster for Harare that would have affected the majority.”
Another resident Kelvin Kajao said the companies responsible should be investigated.
“They should be serious with their jobs because thousands of lives could have been lost,” he said.
Some of the residents expressed concern that the whole debacle could have been planned.
“From what the driver is saying, it shows that he actually knew that he was carrying a dangerous chemical,” Ms Sarah Mazi said.
If sodium cyanide was used, millions of Harare residents could have been put at danger.
Sodium cyanide is a deadly chemical that can exist in various forms, which can be a colourless gas, such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN) or cyanogen chloride (CNCl), or a crystal form such as sodium cyanide (NaCN) or potassium cyanide (KCN).
Hydrogen cyanide, under the name Zyklon B, was once used as a genocidal agent by the Germans during World War II.
Poachers use the chemical to lace water points to easily kill animals such as elephants and rhinoceros.
Labels: WATER, WILDLIFE
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Harare owed US$120m in water bills
Saturday, 19 May 2012 19:10
Municipal Reporter
The Harare City Council is owed over US$120 million in unpaid water bills, a development that has severely hampered its bid to improve water provision.
Water Department director Engineer Christopher Zvobgo last week disclosed that domestic customers have cumulative arrears of US$57 million while Government, private companies and other local authorities account for the remainder.
Eng Zvobgo said council efforts to force customers to settle the bills through a water disconnection blitz have not yielded the desired results.
“Customers always default. All the measures we have employed such as negotiating and, to some extent, disconnecting water supplies have been futile as the amount we are owed keeps rising by the day.
“As a city, we badly need money to repair our infrastructure and improve service delivery. The over US$120 million we are owed would go a long way in addressing the challenges we are facing,” he said.
A schedule obtained from Town House last week shows that Chitungwiza Town Council owes US$10,3 million, Norton Town Council US$1,3 million, Ruwa US$9,785 million and Epworth US$1,428 million.
Government’s debt stands at US$20,9 million as at May 11.
Harare Residents’ Trust co-ordinator Mr Precious Shumba said some residents were not settling bills in protest against council’s billing system which is based on estimated meter readings.
“Residents are not happy with the continued estimated billing whose charges are inconsistent
“Some suburbs such as Borrowdale and Greendale do not receive water at all and residents in those areas find no reason to pay for a service not rendered,” he said.
Mr Shumba called on council to write off bills that accrued between January 2009 and December 2010, arguing that they were derived from a faulty billing system.
Labels: HARARE, WATER
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ACC calls for integrity in water sector
By Gift Chanda
Wed 04 Apr. 2012, 12:57 CAT
THE Anti-Corruption Commission has called on players in the water sector to improve governance systems to fight corruption. Speaking at the just ended Water Sector Financial Forum in Kabwe held under the theme "Operational and Financial Efficiency; a key to performance improvement", ACC director general Rosewin Wandi said there is need to promote ethical codes of conduct in all water utilities to counter corruption.
Wandi observed that poorly designed financial regulations or lack of adherence to financial regulations could expose the financial systems of water utility companies to a crisis and collapse.
This is contained in statement issued by National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASC) public relations officer, Rose Tembo.
"Corruption negatively affects operational and financial efficiency because of its negative effects," Wandi said.
"Apart from increasing the cost of doing business, corruption enriches a few individuals while the majority of the citizens remain wallowing in abject poverty."
Wandi cited water quality compliance, revenue collection, meter reading, connection, disconnection and reconnection of water supply, inspections and procurement of goods and services by water utility companies as areas of operation in the water sector prone to corruption.
She called on the water sector to inculcate principles of integrity and accountability which promote operational and financial efficiency leading to performance improvements.
Wandi further implored the water sector to enhance efforts in empowering communities with knowledge on their water rights and sanitation responsibilities to enable citizens report any suspected or acts of corruption or abuse of public office to the ACC.
The Water Sector Financial Forum organised by NWASCO drew 40 participants from all the 11 water utility companies.
With recommendations from the Financial Forum, a sector guideline is expected to be formulated by NWASCO which would see the formation of integrity committees in all water utility companies to counter corrupt practices.
Labels: ACC, ROSEWIN WANDI, WATER
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Zambia is behind in meeting MDG on water - Chitumbo
By Sakabilo Kalembwe
Thu 22 Mar. 2012, 12:57 CAT
ZAMBIA is lagging behind in terms of meeting the Millenium Development Goal on sanitation, says National Water and Sanitation Council director Kelvin Chitumbo.
Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Chitumbo said although enough progress has been made in terms of achieving the goal on water, the country is behind in achieving the goal on sanitation.
"We as country have made progress in terms of achieving the water goal, but sanitation still remains a challenge," he said.
He said there were still challenges in meeting the goal especially in urban areas.
"We have achieved up to 98 per cent of the water required for the urban population, but the bigger challenge still remains for the achieve good sanitation which at the moment only remains at 40 per cent," he said.
Chitumbo also noted that climate change and human activities also has a negative impact on the water sources.
"The quantity of water has deteriorated due to climate change, but also their human activities like that make the accessibity to clean drinking water water a problem," he said.
"It is more expensive to treat water now due to some careless mining activities and this leads to water problems," said Chitundu.
And Japanese Ambassador to Zambia Akio Egawa speaking at Zambia-Germany-Japan Friendship Football Tournament held in commemoration of the Water World Day said that the event was not just a football tournament.
"It is an event to promote youth development through sports, in particular, football. It is also aimed at promoting health and hygiene among the youths through sensitisation on safe water and sanitation," he said.
Ambassador Egawa said safe water and sanitation are both basic requirements for human resource development, and hence, economic and social development of any country.
"I recall in February last year, JICA and GIZ signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in their assistance to the water and sanitation sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Both Japan and Germany have vast experience in this sector, and the two organisations are now strengthening their cooperation on the basis of the MoU," he said.
Ambassador Egawa said the event is part of such collaborative efforts by JICA and GIZ.
"Indeed this a shining example of the tripartite partnership between Japan, Germany and Zambia.
Japan on her part has made many contributions in the area of water supply and sanitation in Zambia, as they are one of the focus areas of Japanese development assistance to Zambia," he said
Ambassador Egawa said over the years, the government of Japan has been supporting water and sanitation improvement efforts by the Government of Zambia with particular focus on rural water supply.
"Since 1985, more than 1,000 deep boreholes with hand pumps have been installed by Japan throughout the country except in the Eastern Province and the North Western Province. I am aware that in recent years the government of Germany has been rendering support to water supply in these two provinces. Both Japan and Germany have therefore complemented each others' efforts in this regard," said Ambassador Egawa.
Meanwhile Germany's Ambassador to Zambia Frank Meyke said despite the two to four litres of water people drink daily, most of the water consumed is embedded in the food people eat.
"It takes 15,000 litres of water to produce one kilogramme of beef," he said.
Ambassador Meyke said besides providing safe water, water resources management is becoming even more important for socio-economic and agricultural sectors.
Labels: MDGs, WATER
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Zinwa in bid to revive dying rivers
Friday, 04 November 2011 00:00
"I went to Lake Chivero the other day with my wife and I did not like what I saw. I also went to Middle Sabi to see the Ratings Project and from the plane I was travelling in, I could see the death of the Save River as a result of siltation."
This was a quote from a speech made by Finance Minister Tendai Biti in September this year during the commissioning of 375 000 pound draglines acquired from Britain for de-siltation of Save River and the controlling of water hyacinth at other water bodies.
This was after Zinwa made the conscious and deliberate decision to save Zimbabwe's dying rivers and water bodies. Siltation of rivers is becoming endemic in the country particularly in regions where there is acute illegal panning of minerals especially gold. Rivers has been reduced to rivulets. More often than not children born after Independence or tourists are shocked why the more than 600 metres long single span Birchenough Bridge was built over the river. Save's majesty is now a story of folklore and historians. It would amuse many that the Portuguese at one point considered making the river the shortest route to the Indian Ocean by ships.
Save like many other rivers in the country has been a victim of stream bank cultivation and more recently illegal diamond panners who invaded the Chiadzwa diamond fields. In their frenzy to exploit the new Eldorado very few or none were concerned about their activities choking the river with sand.
Mazowe River is threatened with extinction too. The river is exposed to heavy siltation and chemical infiltration from illegal gold mining activities along its banks.
Mashonaland Central has abundant deposits of alluvial gold easy to extract for the less experienced miners.
They only need a pick and shovel, mercury for concentrating and welding the fine gold particles together and lots of water to process the gold from gravel.
Clean water is used to clean the yellow metal and the residue is thrown into the river further increasing soil erosion into the river with already fragile banks.
The trade being mostly informal, the panners make their quick money from illegal metal traders and move on along the river banks. No soil reclamation or environmental rehabilitation ever takes place leaving the loose soils free to be eroded by strong winds or rains into the river, which is naturally the lower point. Glittering gold is an easy source of money to the poor communities compared to agricultural production. The people are not ready to wait for say four or six months labouring before harvesting. Gold panning is an instant market, get your ore today and trade on the spot.The choking of rivers and environmental degradation is not limited to Mazowe but has spread across the mineral rich provinces of Zimbabwe. This has extended to Midlands town of Kwekwe, Mashonaland West towns of Kadoma, Chegutu and Karoi.
Lake Chivero is a scenic and attractive water body less than 30km from Harare City Centre. This makes it one of the closest water tourist resort. The 3 200ha dam provides swimming, boating and fishing facilities or simply casual walks into the savanna woodlands surrounding the dam. However, this resort is slowly being choked by water hyacinth. This is a fast spreading weed that can cover the whole water surface within a short space of time. The weed, according to water experts thrives in water bodies that have high levels of raw effluent pollution. The weed can be controlled in two ways: mechanical through the use of draglines or chemically through spraying. However, use of chemicals affect other aquatic life hence the preference of mechanical weed control.
The acquisition of the draglines is not an end in itself but Zinwa's commitment to manage the country's water bodies as espoused in the Zinwa Act.
The authority is being proactive in saving dying rivers, however, at a pace permitted by our financial resources.
Of the two recently purchased draglines one shall be stationed at Middle Sabi irrigation scheme while the other one shall be used around the other six catchments areas. Minister Biti was convinced that the water authority was using resources from the treasury better than many Government departments and deserved more if resources become available.
"As long as you use the money properly like you are doing, we will continue giving you the money," said Minister Biti, pledging to release more money for the acquisition of more draglines.
* We welcome enquiries and suggestions. Please channel then to Zinwa PR Department, 12th Floor Old Mutual Centre Corner 3rd and Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare. Email: pr@zinwa.co.zw. Phone (04) 797604/5;797610-3
Zinwa remains concerned by the continued siltation of rivers by gold panners and other illegal miners further compromising the accessibility of water to downstream communities and increasing the changes of hazards such as droughts.
In achieving this mammoth task of equitably distributing water, Zinwa needs the assistance and co-operation of all its stakeholders including Government ministries and departments.
These among others include the Ministries of Mines and Mining Development, Environment and Wildlife Management and the Environmental Management Agency. The problem of mining is a huge potential problem for access to clean water. In South Africa, the City of Johannesburg is battling with acid water from mines surrounding the metropolitan.
The acid water from the mines is seeping into and contaminating fresh water sources thereby reducing availability of clean water to more than five million people in the city. However, Zimbabwe is lucky that there are no mines closer to the densely populated urban centres.
This, however, does not lessen the danger posed by illegal panners to the entire water systems in the country.
Zinwa, therefore, is calling for stiffer and deterrent penalties against illegal miners and other people whose activities are a danger to water sources.
In view of the impending summer season, Zinwa is making concerted efforts with other stakeholders to contain water sources contamination by illegal panners.
This exercise needs the support of all for every drop of water counts especially in the face of climate change being experienced the world over.
Labels: ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, WATER
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40 water bottling companies banned
Saturday, 19 November 2011 00:00
Peter Matambanadzo Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT has banned 40 water bottling firms for failing to meet safety and quality standards. This follows an influx of bottled water suppliers in response to a surge in demand.
Acting Secretary for Health and Child Welfare Dr Davis Dhlakama yesterday said only nine firms were authorised to sell mineral and bottled water.
"To date, 49 potential bottlers submitted their water for testing and possible certification. Out of these, nine were advised that their water was suitable for bottling.
"The other 40 were advised that their water was not suitable for bottling for various reasons including contamination, unsuitable packaging and wrong labelling. They were barred from selling the water," Dr Dhlakama said.
While Dr Dhlakama declined to name firms that were certified to sell water saying the ministry did not have a provision to publish names, private and voluntary standard organisation, Standards Association of Zimbabwe named 12 water bottling firms certified with the national body after independent surveillance.
"The ministry does not have a provision to publish names of companies that have been certified. The role of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is to ensure that bottled water sold on the market is safe to drink," Dr Dhlakama said.
The companies certified by SAZ are Schweppes Zimbabwe Ltd, Tanganda Tea Company Ltd, Century Ice, ZLG, Brackenridge T/A Kanyerere Investment, Reichmark, Aqua Crystal, Chromopak Investments, Somerby, Chilruff T/A Springvale, Mukati Investments and Blester Marketing.
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Although SAZ approved the 12 companies to sell their products, some of them might not be on the list of Government-certified firms.
Dr Dhlakama said although SAZ uses logo marks to identify certified products, some of the products still violated quality and safety requirements.
"Some private and voluntary standards institutions such as SAZ use logo marks to identify certified products but even those products bearing logo marks sometimes violate quality and safety requirements of the law," Dr Dhlakama said.
The ministry as provided for by the Public Health Act and the Food and Food Standard Act, delegates powers to municipal authorities to enforce food laws and regulations in their respective areas.
Dr Dhlakama said the ministry's surveillance and monitoring programmes for food in general were difficult to implement due to lack of resources under the current economic challenges.
"Currently, the ministry realises some challenges being faced by municipal authorities and also itself in monitoring and enforcement of food laws," he said adding that they would strive to maintain an eagle's eye on the monitoring and enforcement activities.
"The ministry carry out campaigns when it sees that there are too many suspicious bottled water on the market. This is also done when the ministry realises that local health authorities are not performing to expectations in terms of monitoring," he said.
Although only nine companies are approved to deal in water bottling, the market has been flooded with several brands are sold in shops.
Some of the companies have premises that do not meet the required minimum basic hygienic requirements, while others are not bottling their water at the source of the water as required.
Some were also violating the factory by-laws requirements of municipal authorities.
Investigations have attributed the proliferation of suppliers to the alleged poor quality of tap water and rising health consciousness by the public.
Although most suppliers indicate the mineral elements content on the label, the quality of water is not just about mineral elements, but also the microbiological safety of the water, among other quality requirements.
Labels: BOTTLED WATER, PUBLIC HEALTH, WATER
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Ruwa sitting on US$3,5m Govt water facility
Tuesday, 23 August 2011 02:00
Michael Chideme Municipal Reporter
Ruwa Local Board is sitting on a US$3,5 million Government facility to provide water to its residents because of serious infighting over a tender award.
Ruwa was the biggest beneficiary of the State's US$13,5 million public sector investment programme funding meant for all local authorities when it received US$3,5 million out of the US$3,7 million it requested. The money was deposited with the local authority three months ago.
Instead of channelling the money towards the construction of the Nora Valley water pipeline, council has been investing the funds with local banks.
Council has not disclosed what it used the interest generated from the State funds for.
Ruwa residents are hardest hit by water shortages in Harare Metropolitan province and are forced to endure periods of up to five months without tap water.
It was on the strength of the council's water problems that Government gave it more money compared to councils of similar size.
Recently, Ruwa councillors and management met with Ruwa/Epworth district administrator Mrs Benedicta Mubaiwa to discuss the issue.
Mrs Mubaiwa urged council to urgently proffer the way forward after it emerged that councillors and management were deeply divided over the tender.
There have been accusations that certain councillors and officials were induced to support certain companies to win the tender.
According to available information, councillors disregarded a technical report recommending one company and chose to put the matter to vote, resulting in the company that was not recommended winning the tender.
Moving Water Industries, charging US$3,7 million won the vote by five to four against Waterflow Enterprises which is charging US$2,4 million.
But the council admits that Drawcard, which is charging US$3,4 million had the best design to solve Ruwa's water woes.
Finance director Mrs Fatima Mhiti pleaded with Mrs Mubaiwa to bar the press from reporting the matter after she received numerous reports "of corruption" in the process leading to the tender award.
She said each part claimed to have incriminating evidence against the other.
Mrs Mubaiwa said should the council fail to use the money, Government would have no option but to withdraw it and give it to other councils.
She warned that delays in building the pipeline would put the lives of Ruwa residents in danger, especially with the advent of summer that brings with it such deadly diseases like cholera.
Ruwa board chairman Mr Pinias Mushaya- vanhu apologised for the delays in building the pipeline.
Labels: UTILITIES, WATER
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Water shortage hits Mongu
By Edwin Mbulo in Mongu
Sun 15 May 2011, 11:30 CAT
MONGU is facing a critical water shortage as only seven out of the 13 boreholes are operational.
Featuring on a special programme on Radio Oblate Liseli on Saturday, Western Water and Sewerage Company acting managing director Best Maichi said the company needs not less than K800 million to carry out a feasibility study to tap water from the Zambezi River.
“Using boreholes is cheaper and faster to execute. We are 25 kilometers from the Zambezi River and it will involve colossal sums of money to pipe water from there. … Tapping water from the Zambezi River is a long-term plan,” Maichi said.
He said the boreholes had been over drawn as out of the 13, only seven were running.
And WWSC commercial manager Collins Liswaniso said the company had received US $2.9 billion about K13.9 billion assistance from the Danish Government for water supply rehabilitation.
“The money would be used to rehabilitate the water lines and boreholes and the works will be carried out by Africa Brothers Cooperation and a Chinese company. We will make sure that the residents of Mongu get water and get connected,” Liswaniso said.
Labels: MONGU, WATER, WESTERN WATER AND SEWERAGE COMPANY
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New water tariffs unsustainable: Official
Sunday, 01 May 2011 22:15
By Michael Chideme
Harare Water's director, Engineer Christopher Zvobgo, has described the new water tariffs fixed by central Government as unsustainable saying imminent cashflow problems were likely to cripple operations and effectively strangulate water delivery.
In an interview last week Eng Zvobgo said Harare Water owed water treatment chemical suppliers and Zesa Holdings US$35 million and settlement would prove difficult with the new charges.
But Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo insists the Government measures are justified because Harare does not buy raw water as it owns its raw water, treatment facilities and distribution network.
Government last week reduced fixed water charges for high density areas from US$7 to US$5, and those for low density suburbs from US$13 to US$11.
Residents of high density suburbs saw their charges for the first 20 cubic metres drop to US$0,25 a cubic metre, down from US$0,30, as a measure to cushion ratepayers.
For the same band, low density residents pay US$0,40.
Consumption in the 21 to 30 cubic metre bands has been pegged at US50c/cubic metre for high density users and US80c for low density, US75c/cubic metre high density and US80c low density for 31 to 50 cubic metres, and US$1/cubic metre high density and US$1,50 low density for consumption between 51 to 100 cubic metres.
Anything above 100 cubic metres attracts a charge of US$2 per cubic metre for both low and high density suburbs.
Eng Zvobgo said it costs US$0,70 to treat a cubic metre of water, implying that even at the council's US$30 per cubic metre consumers were still subsidised, the subsidy coming from fixed charges and the high charges paid by those wanting a lot of water.
He said further reducing the price had the net effect of crippling operations.
"Most consumers use less than 20 cubic metres. Thereafter usage is very minimal. We hoped to recoup our costs in the band with the most usage," he said.
He said Harare, which imports all its water treatment chemicals remained with the cheapest water in the region compared to other regional capitals like Johannesburg, Kampala, Gaborone, Cape Town and Durban.
The fixed water charge for Durban is US$12, Johannesburg US$16,30, while Cape Town, Kampala and Gaborone have no fixed charges. The first 20 cubic metres in Johannesburg are charged at US$1,39 while in Durban and Cape Town they are US$1,34 and US$1,23 respectively with Kampala and Gaborone are charging US$0,70.
Harare Water spends US$5m monthly broken down as follows US$2m for water treatment chemicals, US$1m for electricity, US$1 in labour costs and US$1m for maintenance and recurrent expenditure.
"Ideally we should collect US$8m but we are spending what we collect. We owe Zesa Holdings US$10m and they have taken us to court," he said.
Eng Zvobgo said residents owed the city US$55m in unpaid water bills. Out of the 189 000 water connections only 15 000 are industrial and commercial. A recent audit revealed that up to 15 000 households were using water for free because they were either illegally connected or were not registered with the city.
In an interview to get Government justification for reducing water charges for Harare in view of protests by Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda, Minister Chombo said countrywide Harare water should be the cheapest because the city wholly owned the entire water infrastructure including the sources of raw water.
He said last year Government gave the city US$17,1m to rehabilitate its water and sewer infrastructure while donors weighed in with water treatment chemicals arguing that such support should be reflected in the water charges.
"All those donations should be felt and enjoyed by the public or through improved water tariffs.
"The city is using water money to pay for other administrative issues that do not relate to water. We had no option but to protect the consumer," he said.
Minister Chombo said water should never be charged as a luxury but as a basic necessity.
Labels: HARARE CITY COUNCIL, WATER
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Prioritise payment of water bills, says Muteteka
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Thu 24 Mar. 2011, 04:01 CAT
LOCAL government deputy minister Moses Muteteka (above) has urged Zambians not to neglect paying for water because the commodity is a basic need for a good and healthy life.
And Nkana Water and Sewerage Company board chairperson William Nyirenda cited illegal connections, high customer arrears and pollution of raw water sources as some of the challenges his firm was facing in their quest to provide water and sewerage services to the public.
Commemorating the World Water Day in Kitwe’s Mulenga compound on Tuesday, Muteteka observed that the tendency by some people not to pay their water bills was more of an act of neglect rather than lack of capacity to pay because water bills were a mere token fee compared to other services.
“It is amazing that some people spend money on mobile phone airtime, pay television networks and drink beer daily but neglect to pay for water which is a basic need for a good and healthy life,” Muteteka said.
He said people needed to support water utility firms if they were to adequately serve the public.
“These utility companies need huge sums of money for rehabilitating and constructing water supply and sanitation facilities and for operation and maintenance,” Muteteka said.
“They also need to pay other service providers such as Zesco for electricity used for pumping water and other companies for chemicals used for treating water and sewerage.”
He said provision of safe and clean water was therefore not free as some people would want to make the public believe.
Muteteka also said the government was concerned about the poor state of sanitation facilities in Kitwe’s Wusakile township and that K4 billion had already been spent on rehabilitating and constructing new facilities in the same township.
And Nyirenda said dilapidated infrastructure, low metering coverage, overstretched water treatment facilities, overloaded sewer system, vandalism of infrastructure installations and mushrooming of unplanned settlements were great challenges for the water utility’s quest to provide water and sewerage services to its customers.
Labels: NKANA WATER AND SEWAGE COMPANY, WATER
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Access to safe water and sanitation
By The Post
Wed 23 Mar. 2011, 04:00 CAT
Marking the United Nations World Water Day under the theme “Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge”, we were reminded by Paul Kapotwe, country representative from WaterAid in Zambia, that “with the rapidly growing urban population lacking clean water and toilets, the developing world is facing a massive public health crisis.
Half of our country’s population lives in urban and peri-urban areas. Statistics show that Zambia’s population with access to safe drinking water is only 43 per cent. And only 23 per cent of our population has access to safe sanitation.
This is so despite commendable investment programmes being implemented with the support of donor agencies during and after the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade.
The past two decades have seen the passing of an unprecedented number of declarations seeking to ensure that the great majority of our people have access to safe water and sanitation .
Yet to date, the great majority of our people do not have even the most basic levels of access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Why is this so? Is it because there is no money for our government to provide these services to the great majority of our people? Yes, this can be so because our country doesn’t have much money.
But there is much more to this than just money.
Although the lack of financial resources is a factor, the key constraint to providing water to the great majority of our people is the political decision to implement the rights of our people.
And this is why those advocating the inclusion of socioeconomic rights in our Constitution do not want to compromise on such issues and are seeking a rights-based approach to these problems.
They believe every citizen has a basic right to safe drinking water and therefore, it should be a responsibility of government to ensure that every citizen has access to safe drinking water.
It is unacceptable that in the 21st century only 50 per cent of our people have access to safe drinking water and only 23 per cent have access to safe sanitation.
This is both morally and practically unacceptable. Water is life, so it is said.
Truly, water has always been an important and life-sustaining drink to humans and essential to the survival of all organisms. Water constitutes approximately 70 per cent of the human body by mass.
It is a crucial component of the metabolic processes and serves as a solvent for many bodily solutes.
Therefore, every person, whether rich or poor, should have access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
One cannot claim to uphold the sanctity of life if there is no provision for the minimal access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all.
Waterborne diseases cause many deaths each year because people lack proper drinking water and safe sanitation.
Over 90 per cent of deaths from diarrhoeal diseases in our country today occur in children less than five years old.
Malnutrition, especially protein energy malnutrition, can decrease children’s resistance to infections, including water related diarrhoeal diseases.
We can’t continue to lose so many children when improved water supply can easily reduce diarrhoea morbidity.
Our children are dying every day from causes that could be easily prevented if their families had easy access to safe drinking water and to a toilet that is built well enough to protect them from contact with human waste and the diseases that it carries.
Poor water and sanitation and unsafe hygiene practices are the main causes of diarrhoea. In addition to illness and death, lack of safe water and sanitation has many other serious repercussions for children.
Well too often, girls are forced to skip classes to go and draw water, resulting in loss of critical time for learning.
Clearly, improved water and sanitation services are a prerequisite for child survival and development.
And that is why they are a key component of the millennium development goals.
We know that throughout most of the world, the most common contamination of raw water sources is from sewage and in particular faecal pathogens and parasites.
It is clear that our people need to have access to good quality water in sufficient quantities, water purification technology and availability and distribution systems for water.
At the rate we are going, it will not be possible for us to achieve the millennium development goal of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015.
We seem to be facing serious challenges in this goal.
Our rural communities are the furthest from meeting the 2015 millennium development goal on safe drinking water and sanitation.
Water and sanitation are services that no responsible government can ignore.
There is nothing which makes people more appreciative of a government than that it is able to deliver safe drinking water and sanitation to them.
It is therefore the task of our government to give the millions of Zambians an essential piece of dignity in their lives – the dignity that comes from having access to clean running water and safe sanitation.
Labels: IGNATIUS CHAMA, WATER, WORLD WATER DAY
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We’re far from accessing clean water - Bishop Chama
By Ernest Chanda
Wed 23 Mar. 2011, 04:00 CAT
MPIKA Catholic diocese Archbishop Ignatius Chama says Zambia is very far from reaching the required percentages of clean water provision.
In an interview in commemoration of the World Water Day which fell yesterday, Bishop Chama said the fact that the country commemorated the day every year meant that very little had been done in providing the commodity to the masses.
“I think it is a song that has been sang many times. And the fact that we participate in commemorating the World Water Day means that we are very far from reaching the required levels,” Bishop Chama said.
“It is an issue that requires serious concern by those responsible because water deals with life. As the situation stands, we are still very far from accessing clean and safe drinking water in this country.”
Bishop Chama called for concerted efforts to ensure that everyone in society accessed clean water.
“I am appealing to those in the opposition as well, let them join in and help provide clean water to our communities. In our culture, whenever a lion attacked a community there was no separation. People fought as a community to ensure that everyone’s life was protected. There was no difference between clans and tribes, but they all confronted the common enemy which is the lion and killed it,” said Bishop Chama.
“Equally now, let all our leaders, both opposition and government sit together and resolve water problems among our people.”
On Monday, Earth Organisation executive director Lovemore Muma said it was impossible for any country to reach socio-economic development without good quality water.
Muma stated that it was important for governments, especially in Africa to give priority to the preservation and good management of water as they planned for social and economic development, whether they were focusing on health and education development or on agricultural and industrial development.
And WaterAid Zambia urged governments across the world to prioritise provision of clean water and sanitation services.
Country representative Paul Kapotwe stated that water and sanitation services should be provided in line with the world population demands.
“With a rapidly growing urban population lacking clean water and toilets, the developing world is facing a massive public health crisis. One of the biggest challenges facing the developing world is the rate of urbanisation,” said Kapotwe.
Labels: IGNATIUS CHAMA, WATER, WORLD WATER DAY
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Mpika residents reject new water tariffs
By Ernest Mwape in Mpika
Wed 12 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
WATER consumers in Mpika have rejected the newly hiked water tariffs by the Chambeshi Water and Sewerage Company because of poor service delivery.
The newly-increased fixed tariffs effective this month are between 20 and 29 per cent, with houses in the low-cost category pegged at K39, 000 from K32,500 and medium cost at K68,640 from K57,200 exclusive of K5,000 kwacha service charge.
Other tariffs are high-cost - K101,400 from K84,500 and communal - K140,000 from K117,000. Tariffs for commercial and small institutions are pegged at K220,000 from K171,100, medium at K348,000 from K285,000 and large K696,000 from K570,000.
But some consumers vowed not to pay January bills based on the new tariffs because they were too high and did not correspond with services being provided by the water utility company,
The irate consumers said it would be foolish of them to accept the new tariffs when water supply was irregular in all residential areas.
Some consumers, who have since started collecting signatures from residents, disclosed that they would in the next few days petition area district commissioner Sokoni Malama because the increase was unjustified.
They explained that ever since Chambeshi took over the running of water works from the local authority in the area, the water company had never installed any new equipment other than uprooting the pipes it found, particularly in TAZARA township, to warrant water tariff adjustments.
Reverend Ambrose Haguyu of the Pentecostal Holiness Church said that water consumers always remained numb each time there was increase in tariffs, a situation he described as unhealthy.
Rev Haguyu urged consumers to join forces in the fight against the unfair treatment by the water firm, which he said had no regard for them.
And Cyprian Mulenga expressed disappointment at the manner in which the Ministry of Local Government and Housing was nursing water utility companies in the country.
Catherine Chinshe said she could not understand why water bills were much higher than electricity in the district.
At a meeting held last Sunday at Kabale Basic School to discuss the water increase, members of the TAZARA residence concerned committee resolved to reject the introduction of tariffs until the water utility firm improved the water situation in the district.
The meeting, which was chaired by interim chairman Thedius Bwalya, agreed that Chambeshi should install meters and do away with fixed charges as they were being abused.
Labels: MPIKA, TAZARA, WATER
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WASCO blocks Lusaka Water tariff increase
By By Ndinawe Simpelwe
Sat 08 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT
NATIONAL Water and Sanitation Council has barred the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company from increasing tariffs due to poor services to its customers. In an interview, council director Kelvin Chitumbo said the embargo on the water utility would not be lifted until service delivery was improved.
“Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company has failed to fulfil guaranteed services to its customers. They will not be allowed to increase tariffs until we see them improve,” Chitumbo said.
He said the water utility was supposed to provide services for at least 12 hours a day but had failed.
“The required period for service varies depending on the area. The guaranteed hours in Chelstone and Avondale are supposed to be 12 hours per day but they have failed to provide that service to the two areas,” he said.
Chitumbo said NWASCO would not allow water utilities to increase tariffs and continue providing poor services to the customers.
“We are monitoring the utilities and we want to see an improvement in terms of services after we allowed them to increase tariffs,” Chitumbo said.
He urged customers to continue demanding better services from water utilities.
NWASCO last year approved tariff raises for four commercial utility companies to be implemented in the next three years.
Eastern, Mulonga, Luapula, and Western Water and Sewerage companies were given an approval to increase their water tariffs by between
eight and 50 per cent.
And Chitumbo said NWASCO needed infrastructure to harvest rainwater and make it useful to the community.
He said the harvest of rainwater would help reduce the floods that were experienced in different parts of the country.
“We need to work closely with the planning authority to see how best we can utilise rainwater,” he said.
However, Chitumbo said it would be a big challenge to successfully harvest rainwater because places that were earmarked for such had been developed and people were living there.
Labels: LUSAKA, WATER
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Water utilities propose 18 to 80% tariff raise
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Sat 23 Oct. 2010, 04:04 CAT
SOME water utilities in the country are proposing to raise water tariffs to between 18 and 80 per cent, a senior official at National Water and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) has disclosed.
NWASCO financial and commercial management inspector Josephine Goma said water utilities were proposing to up water tariffs mostly to recover the cost of providing services.
Goma said recent changes in economic dynamics such as inflation and hiked electricity tariffs prompted water utilities to ask for an increase in water charges.
She mentioned the four water utilities that had applied for water increases as Luapula Water and Sewerage Company, Western Water and Sewerage Company, Eastern Water and Sewerage Company and Mulonga Water and Sewerage Company.
She said Luapula Water and Sewerage Company had proposed the highest tariff increase of 80 per cent.
“This figure might sound very high but in absolute terms it is very small because Luapula Water and Sewerage Company is a new commercial utility,” Goma said. “The point is that they Luapula Water and Sewerage Company are coming from zero, where the tariffs were not economic as they recently took over from local authorities.”
Eastern Water and Sewerage Company is asking for 30 per cent increase, and Western Water and Sewerage Company has proposed to raise tariffs by 27 per cent.
Mulonga Water and Sewerage Company which services Chingola, Mufulira and Chililabombwe has asked for the lowest tariff hike at 18 per cent.
Western Water and Sewerage Company is proposing a 27 per cent hike because they had not effected any tariff change since 2006, and the firm has the lowest tariff in the sector.
“They water utilities are basically asking for these adjustments to sustain the cost coverage rate, their operations and maintenance costs and also the movements in inflations,” she said.
Goma said commercial utilities that had not applied for tariff were operating within the window that had earlier been approved by NWASCO which had not yet expired.
Goma said NWASCO would study the proposals from the commercial utilities before approving and disapproving the proposals by the utilities.
“These are just proposals, [we will analyse them and based on what we will find when we analyse as management then we will pass on our findings to our council board, which then will make the final decision,” said Goma. “So, until that time…and of course we have a model we use when evaluating these submissions.”Labels: JOSEPHINE GOMA, NWASCO, UTILITIES, WATER
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Harare water shock
By Michael Chideme
SIXTY-SIX percent of the water produced by Harare City Council is being consumed for free because the users are not registered with council as they were illegally connected.
According to council, out of the 34 percent of water billed, the city is collecting less than 50 percent of the revenue implying that only 20 percent of the water revenue is collected.
Harare Water has potential to collect US$8 million from water every month, but receives around US$3,5 million.
The collected amount includes arrears running into several months.
Investigations by Harare Water indicate that the majority of housing co-operatives are not captured as well as all new housing developments that were established after 2005.
About 1 160 households under Nehanda Housing Co-operative in Dzivaresekwa are not in the council books as well as 777 houses in the various housing co-operatives in Hatcliffe.
The same applies to other housing co-operatives in the capital.
Some co-operatives use faulty bulk meters, implying that incorrect readings are captured.
For the past two weeks, senior Government officials, captains of industry and ordinary residents have been falling on each other reporting themselves to council.
Director of Harare Water Engineer Christopher Zvobgo confirmed that his office was inundated with calls and reports by people saying they had not paid for water for the past five years.
"Sixty-six percent of the water we are producing cannot be billed. We are only able to bill for 34 percent of the water," he said.
The city has been calling for residents to register their water connections after noticing the discrepancy in water produced and water billed for.
Eng Zvobgo said the amount of non-revenue water (water not paid for) was a major cause for concern.
"Non-revenue water consists of physical losses, leaks and commercial losses that include illegal use, unmetered connections or faulty metering," he said.
He said physical losses accounted for 40 percent while commercial losses were at 26 percent.
Contractors connected some of the properties directly to the water mains while others hired private plumbers to connect them without informing city authorities.
Eng Zvobgo said the low water revenue collections were impacting negatively on the city’s capacity to reinvest into water infrastructure.
Town Clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi recently said 25 percent of water revenue is ploughed back into maintenance and upgrading of the system.
The city spends US$2 million on water treatment chemicals every month, implying that out of the average US$3,5 million collected from water sales US$1,5 million is for employee salaries, infrastructure and other running costs.
In a related matter, Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda says the city’s water deficit can be contained if Government speeds up the construction of Kunzvi and Musami dams.
Harare suffers a water deficit of 600 megalitres (600 million litres) a day.
Kunzvi Dam has potential to produce 270 megalitres while Musami Dam — to be built on Shavanove River — has potential to produce 450 megalitres.
The two dams have potential to add another 570 megalitres.
Mr Masunda said the two projects would cost US$1,170 billion. Once the dams are built, the city would be responsible for constructing the treatment plants and abstracting water.
Labels: HARARE CITY COUNCIL, WATER
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This government is betraying the poor
By Editor
Sun 01 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT
It is said that “water is life”. Truly, life is impossible without water. It is impossible for a human being to live or do anything without water.
Without drinking water, human life is impossible. Without water, it is impossible to have food. To even cook the food, when it’s available, one needs water. A bag of mealie-meal is of no value to a human being without water – water is needed to turn the mealie-meal into nshima.
Truly, water is life because without it, there is no life. And we know that life is sacred, a gift from God to be valued from the moment of conception until death. One cannot claim to uphold the sanctity of life if there is no provision for the minimal access to water for all. People cannot be sent away to go and die because their government is not ready to provide them with a guaranteed access to water. Where life is concerned, the government cannot wash its hands and simply say we have no money to guarantee the provision of such a need, a right. We are reminded in Mathew 14:16: “There is no need for them to go; give them something to eat yourselves.” We would say there is no need for them to go and die from lack of water, give them water to drink yourselves, you the government – guarantee that right, recognise it as a human right.
It is surprising that a country like ours, with immense fresh water resources, can fail to vote in favour of a United Nations resolution making access to clean water and sanitation an official basic human right everywhere in the world. Zambia refused to join the 122 countries that voted in favour of this resolution, and instead decided to be part of the 41 countries that abstained.
It is also understandable why this government has refused to recognise access to clean water as an economic and social right in our Constitution. When this clause was proposed at the National Constitutional Conference, those who were in attendance burst into laughter thinking this was senseless, was a joke. It was not this clause that was senseless, that was a joke. It was those who were laughing who were senseless, who were a joke. It is their ignorance, their lack of understanding of the legal nature and content of economic and social rights that made them laugh at that clause. And this ignorance and lack of understanding is seriously undermining effective action on economic and social rights in our country. Clearly to a certain degree, the difficulty in fully recognising economic and social rights in the face of endemic poverty and increasing inequality in wealth and income discourages action on economic and social rights when other challenges confront us.
We need to recognise the fact that human rights are a legal statement of what human beings require to live full human lives. Collectively, they are a comprehensive, holistic statement. A comprehensive approach to the promotion and protection of human rights, which include economic and social rights, ensures that people are treated as full persons and that they may enjoy simultaneously all rights and freedoms and social justice.
There must be concerted effort to ensure recognition of economic and social rights in our country. However, when over 70 per cent of our people live in abject poverty, go hungry every night; when many of them lack access to even a basic necessity like safe drinking water and live lives that are worse than those of animals, renewed attention and commitment to the full realisation of economic and social rights are vital.
It is the task of our government, of all of us to give the millions of Zambians an essential piece of dignity in their lives – the dignity that comes from having running water, a solid roof over your head and other services in an established community. There is nothing that makes people more appreciative of a government than that it should be able to deliver services.
There are people in our country who each day cannot meet the basic needs necessary for a decent human life. It is a duty for all of us to advocate for just government policies that will help improve the basic material needs for living, like water, food, housing, healthcare and education. It is the strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied.
Every citizen of this country is entitled to a standard of living worthy of human dignity that includes access to clean water, enough food, clothing and adequate housing. And this is primarily what government is constituted for.
Again, we are reminded in Proverbs 30:8: “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food that is needful for me.”
There is a great danger that government policies, if not combined with clear social concern, will bring socio-economic deprivation. Living conditions must be improved, especially for the low income earners.
Every person, whether rich or poor, educated or not, has an equal right to clean water. And this should be guaranteed as a human right in our Constitution. Again, water is life. And human life is a precious gift from God, the source of all life. This being the case, why can any government, let alone one that claims to be Christian, refuse to recognise access to clean water as a basic human right?
The right of all individuals, families and their practical implementation must be acknowledged, protected and fostered, together with the public duties binding all citizens. We need a constitution that guides us to a share in divine life through love. And the constitution must be a medium that regulates our conduct in necessary matters concerning the common good. The question we should always ask ourselves is: does our Constitution guarantee fundamental human rights and freedoms for integral human development?
The Constitution reflects the wishes and aspirations of the people. And if this is so, how can our Constitution fail to recognise access to clean water as a human right when the great majority of our people don’t have access to it? If a vote was to be taken today, in a free and fair ballot, can anyone really think and truly believe that the majority of our people who have no access to clean water would refuse to recognise and acknowledge this as a human right in our Constitution? The refusal to include this in our Constitution is a clear indication, in itself, that this is not a people-driven Constitution. The rights of the Zambian people will only be truly protected when their Constitution is people driven. This is the only time the Constitution will truly reflect their wishes and aspirations.
Economic and social justice requires that each individual has adequate resources to survive, to develop and thrive. And economic growth depends in the first place on social progress.
The Constitution of a country is a national document of the highest importance. As the supreme law of the land, it must be recognised and respected as embodying the sovereign will of the majority of the people. And the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the state. And we shouldn’t forget that poverty is impoverishment caused by unjust political, economic and social structures. And for this reason, the poor deserve preferential attention in whatever constitutional arrangements we come up with. The roots of human rights are to be found in the dignity that belongs to each human being. Respect and promotion of all human rights is essential for human development. Every human being should have the chance to enjoy the well-being necessary for their full human development. And it is impossible to have full human development without access to clean water. By refusing to recognise access to clean water as a human right, this government is betraying the poor.
Labels: POVERTY, WATER
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