City budgets to fix water, sewage woes

Desmond Munemo, H-Metro Reporter

A Harare City Councillor has said the 43 percent budgetary allocation towards water, sanitation and hygiene will help to contain sewer bursts and water challenges.

Harare suburbs have for a long time battled to access adequate clean water while raw sewage flows in houses.

HCC Finance and Development Committee Chairperson Councillor Tichaona Mhetu told H-Metro that recurring damages and leakages forced Council to consider a 43 percent budget allocation.

“We have managed to repair and fix quite a number of sewer bursts especially in Cold Comfort and Warren Park areas.

“However, there are some recurrent bursts and water leakages which we feel there is a need to adjust the budget throughout Harare,” he explained.

The most affected areas are Mabvuku, Kuwadzana, Glen View, Mufakose, Cold Comfort and Warren Park where a family had to evacuate a home flowing raw sewage.

The official governing body for the capital City of Zimbabwe added that an arm of service delivery that is Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is allocated a huge chunk of the budget.

“This is a step in the right direction considering the upgrade of infrastructure that is already underway,” added Ward 15 Warren Park 1 Councillor Mhetu.

According to environmental and hygiene experts, poor management and disposal of sewage may cause waterborne infections, water related diseases, water based and excreta-related infections such as cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever and diarrhoea

Water from a burst sewer line has the potential to cause even more harm.

It can also cause illness, since the water contains faecal matter and other contaminants potentially harmful to humans.