Staff Reporter
The Lot Water Project, a non-governmental organisation, has drilled three boreholes in Bulawayo’s Luveve Constituency as it forges ahead in its quest to alleviate water challenges bedevilling the country’s second-largest city.
The organisation has so far drilled six boreholes in the constituency and residents are thrilled at having more alternative water sources.
Gwabalanda Development Committee vice chairman, Mr. Naison Ngwenya said the addition of three more boreholes in the area would ensure more people have access to water during water shedding periods.
“Water is critical in life but we have had challenges accessing it due to water shortages faced by the city and having these alternative sources help us a lot. Some residents are now using borehole water for washing and in toilets, assisting them reduce their water bills,” he said.
The latest boreholes are situated at the Ugandan Martyrs Roman Catholic Church in Old Luveve, Nzwananzi Primary School that straddles Luveve 4 and Gwabalanda and Luveve Primary School which is located in Old Luveve.
Luveve Member of Parliament, Stella Ndlovu, said while the boreholes are situated within premises of institutions, they will be available to residents.
“We decided to place the boreholes within these institutions both as a way of ensuring the institutions have access to water but also for security reasons as the first borehole we drilled was vandalised within a few days of installation. We are grateful to Lot Water Project founder, Innocent Hadebe for the state-of-the-art boreholes which are solar-powered. They are definitely making a difference in people’s lives as they can access safe water at times tap water is closed,” she said.
Luveve Primary School headmistress, Ms Vivian Phahlaphahla, said the borehole would go a long way in alleviating the water problems the school has been facing adding they will get started on agriculture.
“We want to quickly get our gardening project off the ground and we will be producing not just for our feeding scheme but also we are aiming to raise funds from selling the produce to members of the public. We also have a poultry project and I believe the constant availability of water will enable it to flourish,” she said.
A Luveve resident, Musawenkosi Mathuthu, said the boreholes would certainly come in handy as they are guaranteed water for other uses such as bathing, washing clothes and flushing the toilet.
“Open defecating had become a problem but now people can easily flush their toilets even during times when we do not have tap water,” she said.
United States-based Hadebe said they were focusing on setting up a filtration plant and rolling out more boreholes in the near future to create a network that will provide constant water supply to the filtration plant.
The Lot Water Project was established in 2020 when Hadebe responded to calls to assist Luveve residents following a dysentery outbreak that resulted in at least 13 people dying with some seeking medical attention at health facilities.
