Cowdray Park residents have gone for two weeks without water after a pipe was damaged by heavy-duty machinery hired by aspiring member of parliament Prof Mthuli Ncube to rehabilitate roads in the suburb.
Prof Ncube has gone on a charm offensive, rolling out various projects including drilling boreholes, and installing free wifi services for residents, in a bid to win the seat in the August 23 polls.
The incident surfaces a week after Bulawayo councillors raised concerns that Prof Ncube was fixing the road without seeking not being granted permission from the local authority.
The councillors were worried that by conducting the road works without guidance from council engineers, there was a risk of damaging pipes.
A CITE news crew visited the area and spoke to residents who confirmed that they have gone for two weeks without water supplies.
“We are now getting water from wells. These are unprotected sources. We share that water with donkeys. There also is a lot of bacteria in those water bodies. We are now having stomach problems because of dirty water. We fear the worst since there has been recorded cases of cholera,” Johane Sibanda, a resident, said.
“We also feel like these pipes are close to the surface. Sometimes when the kids are playing they would be too close to the sewer pipes and other water pipes. We hope that since this work is still ongoing we are not going to have more of such scenarios.”
Another resident, David Nkala who is wheelchair-bound, said the challenge of staying without water for so long is weighing heavily on People With Disabilities (PWDs).
“We are not able-bodied. We are struggling to get water. If able-bodied people are affected by these water challenges, imagine us the disabled. We can’t be asking people for water all the time because they are also facing the same challenge,” he said.
“Right now there is a diarrhoea outbreak, imagine us who struggle with a lot of activities. We crawl on the ground going to the toilet, how much more affected are we going to be? We really hope that the city council will address this as quickly as possible.”
Another resident, Chipo Makamombe, said both resources are a need for them hence the council and the road constructors should find ways of working together to avail all resources.
“We are grateful for the roadworks that are ongoing. However, the issue of water is really affecting us. We sell our wares here, there is a lot of dust which affects our health. We hope that the water challenge will be rectified soon. Both resources are important to us. We hope none of this will be politicized so that we can benefit as a community,” she said.
Residents representative for the area, Ward 6, Etmas Mthombeni, said they are grateful for the development coming to their area, however, it is unfortunate that there was a burst pipe.
“As they were fixing the road they hit a pipe. We hope that the council will be quick to fix it. They had said the pipe can be obtained in Harare so we hope that all is in order now. Staying for so long without water is a health hazard to the residents so we really hope this will be effectively and efficiently dealt with.”
Cowdray Park Councillor, Kidwell Mujuru, said the council was doing its best to replace the burst pipe.
“We apologise to the residents for the inconvenience. The city council has really been forthcoming and helpful from the time we alerted them of this challenge. They have since bought the needed fittings and we do hope that they will come and fit by day end so that at least by tomorrow we can restore water supply,” he said.
