Bulawayo residents have been urged to complement efforts by the local authority to improve water supplies by conserving water.
Bulawayo Water Action group (BUWA) secretary, Khumbulani Maphosa, in a statement encouraged residents to use water sparingly as the city’s supply dams are yet to reach full capacity.
These remarks follow the announcement by the local authority to suspend the stringent water shedding programme by mid-March.
The city council on Friday noted that due to a favorable rainy season, water levels in the supply dams had risen to 53 percent.
Maphosa noted that iresidents can play their part conserving water and paying their bills on time.
“While this development calls for celebration as products of the many citizens’ nonviolent voices and actions, let us not forget that they are mere promises for now and our vigilance is needed to ensure that they become reality,” Maphosa said.
“We must monitor and hold accountable BCC to ensure that by the third week of February they adhere to 72 hours shedding and by the end of March, we eliminate water shedding in the City. We need to monitor water bursts in the City and report them timely to the Council and also hold the Council accountable for the time they take to respond to calls to fix water bursts.”
Maphosa said in order to ensure that there are long term plans for the city’s water solution, BUWA shall have a quarterly monitoring system on the Gwayi – Shangani dam and pipeline project to ensure that ZINWA adheres to the end of 2021 schedule.
He implored ZINWA and BCC to be transparent when residents approach them seeking information pertaining to water issues.
“We implore ZINWA and BCC to open up the doors of transparency and accountability as we the residents continuously and nonviolently knock on them. We remind them that Section 194 of the Constitution demands that “people’s needs must be responded to within reasonable time” and that “transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely, accessible and accurate information.”
