…Residents call for improved water supply
Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru- City Council has outlined its projects for the year 2023 saying they are now waiting for the disbursement of the devolution funds for fiscal year to undertake them.
Presenting a budget summary report on the 2023 ZW$ 1.3 billion devolution appropriation set to be released from Central government, council Finance Committee Chairperson and ward 13 councillor Cathrine Mhondiwa said the whole devolution allocation had been channelled towards the city’s valuation programme.
“Your Worship and fellow councillors, from the extensive devolution consultations held with the residents, it was a mammoth task for my committee to come up with equitable and representative allocations of the ZW$ 1 305 741 300 allocated to the city.
“The whole operational grant of ZW$ 130 574 100 was channelled towards the on-going General Valuation of the City and the rest being the capital grant of the allocation was tabulated as guided by the provisions of Section 301 of the Constitution,” said Mhondiwa.
Gweru City Council Public Relations Officer Vimbai Chingwaramusee said council was ready to receive this year’s funds and start work on the projects earmarked.
“We have a number of projects in pipeline for the year 2023. We plan to rehabilitate water and sewer treatment plants, relocate our dumpsite and to procure standby Gwenhoro water pumps.
“We also have plans to procure one refuse truck; build two classroom blocks at Mupemelelo Primary School as well ensuring we proceed with the general evaluation role,” she said.
Some of the proposed devolution allocations were presented as follows: the rehabilitation of sewer treatment works, water and sanitation.
Rehabilitation of sewer treatment facilities
This area was allocated 12 percent of the total grant which amounts to ZW$ 156 688 956. Areas such as Senga have been experiencing poor liquid waste management owing to bad sewer networks and this has been attributed to dilapidated sewer pipes which are constantly breaking down. Also areas such as Mkoba 11 in village 4 and Mtapa section 6 have been host to raw sewer flowing due to burst pipes a move has left households experiencing serious health hazards.
More so areas such as Mkoba 19, Ascot infill and Woodlands have been struggling to access tap water for some time. This has been initiated by low pumping capacity experienced to reach out to some of these areas.
Water treatment
Standby pumps for Gwenhoro were allocated 11% accounting for the sum of ZW$ 143 631 543.
The standby pumps for Gwenhoro are meant to enable the pumping of water. The objective is to improve the availability and sustainable supply of portable water and sanitation for all. It incorporates the key drivers of service delivery through provision of adequate portable water.
The City of Progress as Gweru is popularly known, experienced acute water shortage over the past years as the dilapidated infrastructure regularly broke down resulting in parts of the city receiving no water at all. Infrastructure at Gwenhoro dam which is the city’s other main water supplier was last upgraded over 50 years ago and the breakdowns has led to perennial water shortages where rationing has sometimes been adopted to lessen the burden. The treatment according to former Mayor’s Josiah Makombe’s remark in 2021 was put in place way back in 1967 catering for a population of about 170 000 but has since ballooned to approximately 350 000 people. Water borne diseases like Typhoid were once reported around the year 2008 while the continued erratic water supplies have continued to pose a ticking health bomb. Dumpsite relocation got 16 percent of the total amount and that is ZW$ 208 918 608.
Roads and traffic lighting
The situation in which roads in Gweru found themselves has not been that pleasant as 60 percent of the roads were reportedly gravelled exposing them to the risks of soil erosion during the rainy season.
In the 2023 devolution funds, roads were allocated a total sum of ZW$ 117 517 717 constituting 9 percent of the total amount of devolution funds.
Roads were allocated 9% which amounts to 117,517,717
Gweru’s traffic lights and roads are in a poor state that is all roads in the Central Business District (CBD), Shurugwi road via Senga, Mkoba road via Mambo are in bad state and full of potholes. More traffic lights in the CBD are now close to eight years while non-functional, since there was a disagreement between Emobuild (the contractor) and Gweru City Council over fully paying for a job half done. The matter of traffic lights is currently before the arbitrator and the whole city has one working traffic light at section Mutapa along Mutapa-Ascot road.
The Midlands province capital has in the past faced challenges in maintaining the road network as equipment like graders used in the maintenance of such roads were broken down making it difficult for the local authority to make the roads trafficable much to the inconvenience of motorists.
As a result of lack of resources and having broken down equipment, Gweru council had to revert to routine maintenance of roads. Potholes also have become common features on most of the city roads.
Public lighting and safety was also given priority after tower and street lights got 7 percent from the cake and that is ZW$ 91 401 891.
Areas such as Mambo and Senga have been affected by poor lighting and the areas have seen residents suffering at the hands of robbers. As such, council under its devolution funding seeks to address these challenges. In town, street lights were vandalized by haulage truck drivers, so plans are in place to replace them.
Dumpsite relocation
The relocation project got 16% which amounts to ZW$ 208 918 608. Gweru’s new dumpsite is to be located along Gweru-Matobo road near Cambridgeshire sewer system.
The dumpsite is expected to be relocated to a much safe location along Gweru-Matobo road.
Currently it is located in Woodlands where it has posed serious health hazards as it is within the vicinity of residents. Many complaints have been raised over the issue but council has been crying over shortage of resources to relocate the site while council also awaits central government intervention to move the site
Local authorities around the country were last year allocated about ZW$ 195.5 billion towards devolution.
Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) director Conelia Selipiwe on January 16, 2023 said water supply has always been a challenge in the city hence the need to invest towards the area.
“We need much investment on water supply. As a local authority, we want to see prioritization of infrastructure as well,” he said.
Another resident Raviro Matevere said the year 2023 was supposed to see ‘a miracle’ of bringing to an end dry taps in Mkoba 19.
“We have never tasted water in Mkoba 19 for years. This year should be our year as we want to pay for the water we are using. We want to bath using tap water.
“Residents have been deprived of water by council for more than eight years now. We expect to see a change in our ward this year and thus the need for council to prioritize our welfare as residents,” said Matevere.
However, these devolution funds’ disbursement from the central government has been delayed making it difficult for council management to complete their projects as some would be obstructed by adverse weather conditions at times.
