Edward Mukaratirwa |
Kimberly Kusauka
Masvingo City Council’s Rujeko sewer pump station which has been experiencing perennial breakdowns in recent years is expected to be fully functional by next week.
Delays in the procurement process of parts needed to fix the problem have been blamed for the continued leakage of raw sewer into Mucheke River.
Speaking during a recent press conference at the town house, Acting Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa confirmed that work is underway at the station.
“The sewer pump issue is cause for concern and some of the issues were beyond our control. We had breakdowns, but now we have secured the correct spares. The initial ones were wrong.
“As a result we had to return them to suppliers to give us new ones, but we have been assured that by weekend the pump station will be back up and running,” said Mukaratirwa.
Masvingo was fined $8 000 in 2014 for discharging raw sewer into Mucheke river, one of the water bodies which flow into the city’s main source of water, Lake Mutirikwi.
Mucheke River is currently in a bad state due to untamed discharge of raw sewer into the water body.