Cowdray Park residents have implored the government to consider building more water supply dams for the city to cater for the growing population in the city.
The residents were speaking during a public hearing session held by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, and the Thematic Committee on SDGs in Friday.
The committee is on a fact-finding mission to investigate the state of affairs in the city’s water supply. Bulawayo has been affected by persistent water shortages for the past two decades and the situation has been deteriorating over the years.
Currently residents are experiencing 120-hours water shedding, with some residents incurring longer periods without water due to the altitude of their homes.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) chairperson for Ward 28, Michael Ndlovu, noted that the population is growing but there have not been
Priscilla Moyo, a resident, said the water situation is very dire
“The population of Bulawayo as a whole is growing, and our suburb is the biggest in the city. It is still growing. But with the growth in population, there hasn’t been any construction of new dams to meet the water demand for residents,” Ndlovu said.
“We are still using supply dams that were constructed so many years ago, based on the population of long back. The city has tremendously grown over the years. We need to have more dams, new ones, so that we can have adequate water.”
Another resident, Priscilla Moyo, suggested that there be measures to remove mud from the existing dams which is causing siltation.
“We need immediate solutions. Our dams are silted. There has to be plans on how the mud can be removed from these dams so that we can get more water. While at it we also need to have security measures to safeguard the water catchment areas to prevent illegal miners from disrupting the environment,” she said.
“We also have Nyamandlovu Acquifer. The boreholes there need rehabilitation. They can serve the city at a larger capacity and lessen the water burden that we have.”
Another participant said while the Gwayi-Shangani dam is being constructed, there is need to find alternative immediate solutions.
“Can we have water drawn from Mtshabezi in the meantime. It would be less costly to put pipelines there than to wait for the Gwayi-Shangani project. It has been discussed for a long time without materialising. We need immediate solutions because our situation keeps deteriorating.”
