…health fears at Whawha complex, surrounding areas
Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru-The shutting down of the Whitewaters plant due to motor maintenance has left Whawha Prison, Josiah Tungamirai Air force and Athlone areas without water for close to two weeks, a development which has posed health fears for the residents.
The Whitewater works currently operate under the management of Gweru City Council.
Gweru City Council Public Relations Officer Vimbai Chingwaramusee has since confirmed the development saying work was on-going to bring the situation back to normalcy.
She added that due to resource challenges, it took time for council to procure the spares to replace motor.
“At Whitewaters, the motor is down but our mechanical team is on the ground to repair the motor. We expect the station to be working normally by end of this week.
“Whitewaters affects not only Whawha; but other areas such as Harben Park and Airforce base. Due to financial challenges it took us time to procure the electric motor but we have finally done so.
“On another note, we encourage entities to pay their bills as non-payment of bills cripples service delivery. It now becomes a challenge when they want services yet they don’t pay bills.
“We equally don’t have money for repairs, hence we end up taking revenue from residents to support such entities,” she added.
However, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services Midlands Provincial Spokesperson Nevson Tagarira said at Whawha they have resorted to boreholes to access water.
“Yes White waters which is our sole provider of municipality water is down.
“We have already resorted to borehole water for drinking water and management facilitated another provision of clean water from Airforce of Zimbabwe whilst waiting for maintenance at White waters.
“The water issue at Whawha Complex is a small challenge after White Waters failed to provide clean water, but as Whawha we do have a borehole that provides clean water to inmates and the community. To meet the demand, we fetch water from the nearby dam, but that is for cleaning purposes only,” he said.
Despite breakdowns on main pumping water points and pipe bursts, the local authority continues to face a plethora of challenges towards efficient water supply.
The major challenge has greatly been attributed to constant power disconnections by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Distribution Company (ZETDC) as a result of an outstanding debt.
