Mayor Hubert Fidze
Nyasha Marumbi
MASVINGO – City of Masvingo Mayor Hubert Fidze last week promised residents that council was doing everything in its capacity to ensure that residents have optimum water supplies on a daily basis.
Speaking at a meeting hosted by Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (Murra) at the Civic Centre on Friday, Fidze said though supplies remained lower than demand, the city would continue to work to improve the situation.
He said the city needed 48 mega litres of water per day to meet demand yet only 30 mega litres are being pumped daily.
He said due to the shortfall, those who reside in suburbs such as Rujeko, Runyararo, Hillside and Target Kopje have to do with their supplies being cut between 16:00 hrs and 04:00 hrs every day.
Fidze also said the previous winter season saw a lot of water pipe bursts due to high pressure caused by residents not using as much water.
“In the previous winter, water consumption per household declined substantially because of the cold and that led to an increase in pressure on our pipes,” said Fidze.
He said the continuous rural-urban migration was compounding the problems because the wave was not being equaled with the necessary infrastructural expansion.
People were also urged not to wash their dishes using pit sand and vim in sinks as those two materials were contributing to the clogging of the city’s pipes.
Fidze thanked residents for paying their sewage levy which he said had enabled the city to repair some of the damaged sewer and water pipes.local
