Villagers in ward 21, Sinamagonde, Binga, are appealing for a dam to be constructed in their area to ease water shortages as they are forced to share a single borehole at a time when coronavirus cases are peaking in the country.
Currently, the single borehole is serving over 1000 people and livestock.
The Matabeleland region is faced with serious water shortages due to poor rains during the 2019/2020 season.
Speaking to CITE, one of the villagers, Jabulani Ngwenya said the borehole is overwhelmed due to a high demand for the precious liquid.
“We are appealing for assistance, villagers in the area are getting water from one borehole which is the only source of water we have currently,” said Ngwenya.
“We have about 1 035 people depending on this one borehole, with about 2 030 goats, and 30 donkeys, also depending on the borehole for water.”
He said the scramble for water has led to conflicts among villagers.
“Our request is to have a dam constructed to cater for both animals and people. Villagers have already started fighting over water.”
Ngwenya added that a project to construct a school in the area has stalled due to water shortages.
“We are failing to construct a school due to a shortage of water, teachers are facing a hard time teaching practical subjects such as building and agriculture which also requires water,” he said.
Contacted for a comment, ward 21 headman Mafios Simucxoko said most of the boreholes are not working.
“We are urgently appealing for a construction of a dam, yes boreholes might be drilled but we have a number of malfunctioning boreholes which have not been attended to,” said Headman Simucxoko.
Efforts to get a comment from Member of Parliament (MP) for Binga South Constituency, Joel Gabhuza were in vain as he was not answering his mobile phone.
