By Environmental Correspondent
A local water rights advocacy organsiation, Community Water Alliance(CWA), has blasted the nationwide arbitrary water disconnections that are being carried out by various municipalities and local authorities.
In a statement, Community Water Alliance said its member organisations and residents from these communities are reeling from the illegal arbitrary disconnections.
“Our community structures as well as our member organisations have raised great concern about arbitrary water disconnections. Firstly, they have raised the issue that the disconnections are abrupt contrary to the stipulations in the water act which require at least a 24-hour notice to residents before disconnections.”
Furthermore, “The notice is expected to give residence time to ensure they address their outstanding bills by paying or seeking redress where the council system would have omitted some payments which were made,” states CWA.
The organisation also called out some corrupt council officials who have taken advantage of the situation to demand a re-connection fee from residents.
“In the same vein the mentioned residents have raised issues to do with corruption by the council officials. Community Water Alliance has leant with great sadness that a minimum of ten dollars ($10) is being demanded to ensure that water is not disconnected. As desperate measures for desperate times, residents are reportedly being made to part with their hard-earned mentioned cash at least twice a month,” added CWA.
Charles Sithole, a Mufakose resident confirmed that the council employees refuse an amount less than $10 arguing that they can’t lose their jobs for paltry amounts of money.
The organisation chided some City Councils for having inept public relations departments which have led to frosty relations between residents and city employees in this case those mandated to do disconnections.
CWA has since established that as a copying strategy residents resort to fetching water from the nearby boreholes, some of which are as far as 2-3 km from their residence’s .
The water situation is reported to be dire in some suburbs including Chikonohono in Chinhoyi, some parts of Rimuka (Kadoma), Chitungwiza, Tafara in Harare and Pelandaba in Bulawayo where the water woes date back to more than ten years