Melinda Kusemachibi
Masvingo residents have cried foul over raw sewage discharge into Mucheke River albeit via the incomplete trunk sewer project as they claim to live in fear of a possible disease outbreak after Masvingo City Council reportedly discharged raw sewage into the river while arguing they were fixing a vandalized manhole in Rujeko A suburb.
Speaking to TellZim News Masvingo Residents Forum (MRF) chairperson Brighton Ramusi said the raw flow of sewage poses a health hazard to residents.
“The flow of raw sewage into Mucheke River is a perennial problem that requires a long lasting solution. It is a health danger not only to residents but also to the animals that drink water in the river. The trunk sewer project has continued at snail pace while the sewer bursts continue to worsen, this has been exacerbated by the continuous growth of residential areas without dealing with the fundamental problem of fast tracking the project.
“It is horrible if not terrible for the city fathers to continue allocating stands without completing the trunk sewer project. Recently council extended Pangolin residential area without increasing the capacity of the sewer system,” said Ramusi.
He also blamed the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) for folding their hands and do nothing about the issue.
“It is unfortunate that (EMA) is doing nothing about it. We have managed to engage the city fathers and they promised to attend to the burst pipes but the flow is still there, hence council must prioritize the completion of the project,” said Ramusi.
Masvingo Service Delivery Residents and Ratepayers Association (MASDRRA) Secretary General Moses Mavhusa said council is shifting blame on poor service delivery matters by citing vandalism and theft.
“We are greatly concerned with the alleged theft and vandalism of sewer infrastructure reported by Masvingo City Council, but however we hope this is not a scapegoat by the service provider whereby they try shift poor service delivery provision failures by citing vandalism and theft. Do they have any police report on the allegations? We would like to know the factual truth about this matter as we urge residents to protect sewer infrastructure but also demand quality maintenance of these structures. Its high time council finishes the construction of the trunk sewer project which started more than a decade ago. As residents we do not accept any justification on such a delay on the completion of the project by the city fathers,” said Mavhusa.
Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA) spokesperson Godfrey Mutimba said residents are furious on the flow of raw sewage into Mucheke River as it is contaminating the source of water.
“As residents we are so much concerned and furious over the issue of raw sewage that is flowing into our main source of water Mucheke River through Mucheke trunk sewer. We feel that it is hazardous to our health as sewage in contaminating our water and we fear that it will trigger out break of water borne diseases as we have seen dirty water gashing out of our taps.
“We have tried to contact council in several manners through advocacy, awareness and lobbying together with other organizations but we get responses that this is due to due to irresponsible residents who are breaking pipes. We urge our residents to desist from such wrong doings. We call for the sewer pipes to quickly be fixed so as to protect our residents,” said Mutimba.
Masvingo Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa said that the reporter should take a picture of such a case and bring it to council so that they can attend to and fix it.
“As a responsible resident, you should have taken a picture and come with it to show council what is prevailing then council will take action,” urged Eng Mukaratirwa.
Completion of the ‘legacy project’ has remained a headache for the local authority after its construction began after over a decade ago.
It has been a week now since raw sewage started flowing and the city fathers and EMA are yet to fix the problem.
