Amid Ongoing Water Woes, Zimbabwe Orders Registration of Boreholes
21 May 2012
Tatenda Gumbo & Marvellous Mhlanga Nyahuye | Washington
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority or ZINWA has begun a national exercise
to register boreholes throughout the country as the water crisis continues
to affect many in the cities.
Under new rules, the water ministry now requires all borehole owners,
including companies, drillers and water bottling companies to have them
registered.
Those who want to sink boreholes, companies and individuals alike, will have
to apply to get a license from the ministry.
Officials say the exercise is meant to effectively monitor and manage the
country’s underground water, among other issues. All boreholes are to be
registered by the end of June, officials say.
Most communities in Zimbabwe rely on borehole water as the government and
city authorities have failed to provide adequate, taped, clean water to
residents.
Water Resources Minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo told VOA the registration will
greatly benefit communities.
“We need to know in various geographical areas how much water we have, we
can tell by the borehole which is drilled,” said Nkomo.
“It will also assist us in making sure that boreholes are not to close to
each other and actually making sure people don’t drill in where we believe
as the ministry there is contamination.”
Meanwhile, business nearly ground to a halt in Harare’s central business
district following increased water rationing by the city council late last
week due to a burst water pump that left the capital dry.
Harare city council deputy mayor Emmanuel Chiroto confirmed the intensified
water cuts but said council had managed to repair the burst water pipe.
Chiroto told VOA Harare does not have adequate resources to update some of
its aging equipment, which is constantly breaking down.
But residents blame the council for the worsening water crisis in Harare.
Resident Garikayi Mahlengwe said water supply in Hatcliffe where he lives
has been erratic for the most part.
“The city is still billing residents even where it is failing to provide
services,” said Mahlengwe.
He said residents fear the return of water borne diseases like typhoid and
cholera due to the non availability of a constant supply of safe drinking
water.
Both the water borne diseases which affected thousands of people with the
2008 cholera outbreak and a more recent typhoid outbreak earlier this year,
where attributed to lack of accessible and clean water.