Mayor of Harare Councilor Herbert Gomba confirmed today that City of Harare is producing less than 100 megalitres per day. This amount of water is further reduced by physical losses through burst pipes which ranges around 45% of the daily water production. This means that Harare Metropolitan Province is receiving at most 50 megalitres per day against daily demand of 800 megalitres which can surge to 1200 megalitres during the hot season.
The above figures confirms that Harare Metropolitan Province has a looming potable water disaster which can breed health concerns.
The Mayor of Harare further stated that the dangerously low amount of water available to residents is chiefly caused by scarcity of foreign currency to purchase water treatment chemicals.
Community Water Alliance (CWA) will soon engage the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr. John Mangudya so that there is consistent and period supply of foreign currency which should never be elicited by interventions of Civic Society Organizations. It should be an obligation that Dr. Mangudya should fulfill and respect religiously. Dr. Mangudya should completely stop playing games with people lives and health by urgently availing foreign currency needed for water treatment chemicals. This should be the case in all Local Authorities and it has to be consistent.
The impeding disaster on water delivery confirms our position that water delivery now requires stakeholders approach which break the sectoralization approach that has dominated water interventions for the past decades. CWA will soon expedite the process of ensuring that the Water Technical Committee composed after the January 2019 Harare Metropolitan Province Water Conference, meets and address the impeding disaster.
Source: Community Water Alliance
