Renowned academic, Dr Samukele Hadebe says there is a need for sustainable solutions and a clear vision to solve the current water challenges affecting Bulawayo.
Residents in the city are currently enduring a six-day weekly water shedding as Council is battling to supply adequate water amid depleting water levels at the remaining three supply dams, Insiza, Inyankini and Mtshabezi.
Speaking during an interview with CITE in partnership with Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ), Dr Hadebe said it was inexcusable that the water crisis has been allowed to persist for decades.
“The City must show concrete measures to say can it be that every year in year out we resolve and say we are closing taps. To me that is unsustainable it has been happening for I do not know how many decades. Surely unless we just want to kill Bulawayo, there must be a clear concrete plan to say how do we address the issue of water,” said Dr Hadebe.
He said industry, commerce and livelihoods at home are suffering due to water challenges.
“Without water, we are suffocating industry, commerce and livelihoods at home so water is so central and it can’t be adhoc piecemeal response to such a vital aspect such as water because we need water in literally everything we are thinking of.
“So, I doubt that we have a sustainable or a clear vision to say how do we address the water, we could have proffered different options in the past but if they are not working we can’t stick to that, there are many ways in which we can address a problem, conditions are changing and we should also change and say this is a problem that is not unique to Bulawayo, the world over there are bigger Cities, Metros that have challenges of water how are they addressing them but we don’t get a situation where their taps run dry even, so it shows that we have also taken it for granted,” said Dr Hadebe.
He added that there is a need for a long-term master plan that will guarantee the City constant supply of the precious liquid.
“There is no excuse now that as Bulawayo, both residents, stakeholders and City Council have no solution to the water problem, that our solution is to ration, that on its own is a wrong approach,” said Dr Hadebe.
Why not raise these serious issues with WHO pressure them to act we now have technology to communicate with anybody around the world we have a human right to clean water.