By Panashe Kaseke
Chitungwiza residents grapple with a myriad of service delivery amid of a cholera outbreak which is claiming lives of many people.
The most pressing issues include the acute shortage of clean and reliable water, pothole-riddled roads which have become a common sight, leading to damaged vehicles and posing a threat to the safety of residents and sewage outbreak threatening health of the residents.
Residents are experiencing widespread sewage overflow, with raw sewage flowing into streets, yards and even homes.
“Services are essential for a human being to survive, so in the case that there is no proper service provision becomes a problem in a society. Poor service delivery has affected on the quality of our lives as residents and it seems like the local authorities are being ignorant as residents are paying their bills,” said Simbarashe Michael Nyamazi, one of the residents.
“The key areas of service delivery that are inadequate in St. Mary’s include water supply, sanitation, and waste management. These areas are all essential to our health and well-being, and they have a direct impact on our daily lives,” said Brandon Tanyanyiwa, another resident.
In an interview with Bustop TV, Alice Kuvheya, the director of Chitungwiza Residents Trust, addressed the negative impact of poor service delivery.
“Poor service delivery is negatively affecting the daily life of residents in several ways, particularly in relation to the rise of cholera cases.
“Water and sanitation issues are contributing to the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera, limited access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities is heightening the risk of contamination and disease transmission, and inadequate waste management is also resulting to the accumulation of garbage, creating breeding grounds for disease vectors,” she said.
Alice Kuvheya, the director of Chitungwiza Residents Trust, addressed the negative impact of poor service delivery.
“Poor service delivery is negatively affecting the daily life of residents in several ways, particularly in relation to the rise of cholera cases.
“Water and sanitation issues are contributing to the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera, limited access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities is heightening the risk of contamination and disease transmission, and inadequate waste management is also resulting to the accumulation of garbage, creating breeding grounds for disease vectors,” she said.
She also added that community associations in Chitungwiza are playing a vital role in advocating for residents’ needs and improving service delivery and they are acting as a unified voice, conducting campaigns and awareness programs to educate residents, collaborating with authorities and stakeholders, mobilizing resources for projects, and facilitating dialogue between residents and local authorities.
Chitungwiza local authorities also responded to the issue, in an interview with Bustop TV, addressing the action they are taking to improve service delivery in the community.
“As much as Chitungwiza residents experience water and sewer challenges, we are doing our best to address these problems. The residents receive water every week. It’s not possible for them to receive every day because we are receiving less than 20 megalitres from Harare, which is not enough for all our residents.”
“This water supply challenge is one of the reasons why we continue to have sewer bursts and blockages. We attend to the bursts and blockages. The challenge we face will be history soon, as there is an investor who has already started to address the water issue. Eight megalitres will be added to our water supply, and the investor targets production of over 70 megalitres per day. We are grateful that Manyame Church of Christ recently donated a borehole to St. Mary’s clinic to address the water crisis,” said Chitungwiza Municipality spokesperson, Tafadzwa Kachiko.
“Apart from the absence of Chitungwiza’s own source of water, the other challenge that we continue to face is low budget performance. Some ratepayers don’t honour their obligation to pay outstanding bills. With limited funds, it becomes difficult to solve the problems we face.
“As part of the long-term plan, an investor working with the central government has already started a project to boost water supply in Chitungwiza. We are very hopeful that the water and sanitation issues will be addressed,” he added.
