A month later…water woes continue to disrupt lives
After years of continued calls for ZINWA to handover the water treatment plant to the Gwanda Municipality, the handover-takeover process was finally done last month, sparking wild celebrations from residents who described the hugely anticipated and historic process as the ‘new dawn for Gwanda’.
Water is a precious liquid that no one can live without even for a single day. In fact, researches by different health scientists reveal that a person is supposed to drink between 3 to 4 litres of well-treated water per day to maintain a good health as the saying goes, “water is life”. Yet, in recent years, the abnormal had become the normal as Gwanda residents would go for weeks without the colourless liquid.
It was this reason that, when the handover-takeover programme came to pass, residents thought better change would be immediately realized. A month later, it seems water challenges have gone from bad to worse. The situation under the leadership of the local council is yet to be the Canaan the residents dreamed of.
Taps continue to run dry for days which has led the affected residents to resort to untreated and contaminated water from unsafe water resources. This has exposed residents to waterborne diseases like the Traveler’s diarrhea.
Residents are already challenging the council to up its efforts to urgently mitigate water cuts. Residents are of the view that, for years, they have been tricked into believing that persistent water woes are natural. In other words, the perennial water woes are a result of low rainfall seasons.
They argue that, while low seasonal rainfall has a role to play in water shortages, the situation is also exacerbated by human causes. In a sense, water problems in Gwanda are constructed by incompetence and lack of commitment by duty bearers.
Residents agree that mismanagement of resources by duty bearers is the main reason for the water shortages they are currently experiencing which is the reason that led them to challenge ZINWA to handover the water treatment plant to the local council in the first place. They believed that ZINWA was failing them and thought the local council would immediately bring about change which is yet to be realized.
As a renewable resource, water scarcity should at least not be permanent. Good management of water resources should ensure residents have basic access to adequate treated and safe water on daily basis. As a mater of fact, observations made by rainfall departments show that for the past two seasons, Zimbabwe has experienced favourable rainfall.
With only a month gone since the handover-takeover, it could seem harsh and unfair for residents to be already criticizing the local council but the question would be how much time does the Municipality need for the situation to get better and how much time will it take for the problem to be completely eradicated? This then calls for the Municipality to immediately develop a clear structure that demonstrates its short and long term goals. Such information could clear any doubts from the residents so they are confident enough that the council will effectively deal with the water crisis.
Regular engagement between the local council and the rate payers should be prioritized. There are bodies that have been developed to oversee such processes in the community such as the Water Task Force. The council can utilise these groups in developing a better way forward. For instance, for the water treatment plant to be handed over to Gwanda Municipality, CYDT teamed up with Residents Association and other stakeholders to continuously petition and engage parliament on the need to have the water plant controlled by the local authority. In that regard, young people are appealing for that same commitment by all stakeholders to regularly engage and lobby the council to do better in ensuring that people have adequate access to water.
Meanwhile, after CYDT working with the residents association petitioned ZINWA, the council and the Provincial Minister of State following the installation of bulk prepaid water meters on the main water line to the residents early this year, the installation of prepaid metres was stopped with authorities saying it was on temporary basis. This process had severely affected residents. Going forward, proper consultation and engagement of residents on the issue must be done. While it is imperative that authorities live up to their mandate, there is also need to for rate payers to pay their monthly water bills which will also contribute to the availability of water on regular basis.
ENDS///
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