BULAWAYO United Residents Association (Bura) has called on the government to fulfil its promise to provide US$15 million to council to undertake short-term interventions to address the city’s water crisis.
Bura chairperson, Winos Dube, welcomed the US$15m pledge and urged the government to walk the talk.
“The residents’ leadership was briefed about all the initiatives that are being tried by the local authority together with the government.
“The residents’ leadership expressed hope that the government will do its best in intervening and making sure that the water challenges in Bulawayo are addressed,” Dube said.
Council has so far decommissioned Umzingwane Dam with Lower and Upper Ncema dams set to be decommissioned in the next few months.
Bulawayo mayor David Coltart said the local authority needed at least US$14 million for short-to-medium term interventions to address the crisis.
“We hope that other promises and initiatives that are being said to be put in place such as the Mtshabezi pipeline that will connect Mtshabezi to Ncema, the Inyankuni pipeline and the other dam that is being reworked on, the Glasbock Dam, will be implemented,” Dube said.
Late last month, council turned to prayer seeking God’s intervention in the crippling water challenges.
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The city’s residents are going for several days without water owing to dwindling water levels at supply dams with no rains in sight.
The local authority recently asked the government to declare the city a water crisis area to pave way for international support for short-to-medium term solutions.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka said the government had set up a technical team to study water levels at the city’s dams before making a decision.
In March, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, which is seen as a long-lasting solution to the city’s water crisis, would be completed year end.
Mnangagwa had promised that his administration would complete construction of the dam before the August 2023 elections.
The government had initially said the dam would be completed in December 2022 before pushing the date to 2023 and now December this year.
