St Peter’s residents in Ward 17 have gone for a week without because of a burst water pipe that has not been attended to.
In an interview with CITE, Councillor Sikhululekile Moyo confirmed that there was a burst last week which left some residents without water.
“I am aware of the crisis, last week we reported the issue to the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and they came to fix the burst which occurred near the St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church,” said Cllr Moyo
“But a day after they left another two bursts were reported in different areas.”
Meanwhile, Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) chairperson Ambrose Sibindi said St Peter’s residents have had to endure about three pipe bursts within a week, a situation which has deprived them of the precious liquid.
“Residents in that area have been complaining for some time now about their pipes that have been leaking,” said Sibindi.
Sibindi urged the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to urgently attend to the problem before it develops into a crisis.
“It is really bad for the residents because if there is no water for some days there is a potential danger of the outbreak of diseases in that area,” he said.
“The sustainable solution is a total overhaul of the whole infrastructure by removing the old pipes and replace them with modern approved pipes.
“This firefighting approach will prove to be more expensive for council and waste of rate -payers money.”
Earlier this year council lamented that the ageing of water pipes was crippling the city’s efforts to provide adequate water.
The local authority revealed that in March alone, about 565 reports were made on water-related leaks and bursts.
Cllr Moyo said that the bursts in her ward can also be attributed to ageing pipelines.
“Most of these pipes are very old and it is difficult to replace them since they are no longer available which makes it difficult to contain the situation,” added Cllr Moyo.
“Even when the local authority tries to fix these bursts, they can no longer totally resolve the problem, because the system itself has collapsed.”
She said that the local authority has been notified of the situation.
“I know that they are doing something to rectify the situation and I will be closely monitoring.”
