Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural development, Dr Anxious Masuka has announced that the government will provide a dedicated borehole drilling rig for Bulawayo as part of measures to address the city’s water woes. Residents in Bulawayo are currently subjected to a 120 hour water shedding schedule.
This development was announced on Wednesday after Minister Masuka met with the Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister for Bulawayo, Judith Ncube, and Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart, as well as the Bulawayo Technical Committee on Water at a closed door meeting at Mhlahlandlela Government Complex.
The Bulawayo Technical Committee on Water was appointed by the local authority to oversee the improvement of water supply and services over 100 days from November 2023 to February 2024.
In a brief interview with journalists following the closed door meeting, Minister Masuka said the government has provided a dedicated drilling rig to Bulawayo, which the Minister of Provincial Affairs would coordinate with the Mayor and address the most affected areas to prevent cholera.
“We have drilled 23 boreholes, 14 have found way , so we have made very good progress,” Dr Masuka said.
Bulawayo Mayor appreciated the efforts made by government to address water challenges in the city
“The commitment to rehabilitate Nyamandlovu so that it delivers much higher quantities of water. We are also grateful for the commitment for the by-pass from Mtshabezi pipeline to link up to the main pump station. We have also discussed the other suggested interventions including the duplication of Insiza pipeline, the renovation of the Ncema water treatment works, the duplication of the Tuli reservoir and the by-pass at the creterion reservoir,” Coltart said.
Coltart said the technical water committee would be seized with looking at some of the issues.
“We are also very gratified for the unequivocal support for the city to seek alternative medium term water sources including the possibility of the glass block dam and Cabinet has given us seven days to report on the feasibility of the glass block and perhaps some other issues which we will now harness as a matter of urgency,” he said .
The mayor added that the city will look at the long term water solutions on water supply.
“On behalf of the city we thank the government for the Gwayi-Shangani project, we understand that it will also be important for Matabeleland North in the long term,” Coltart said.
“Even in the midst of Elnino in this critical water situation, we feel that on behalf of the city we now have a path going forward, we look forward to further meetings like this.”
Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Technical Committee on Water, Dr Engineer Annatoria Chinyama said the Committee has been put into sub-committees to look at raw water supply, distribution of water to the people and sanitation.
“Sanitation is usually overlooked but sanitation and water supply goes together because that is the holistic use of water. Those are the issues that we have put ourselves to look at in relation with the mandate that we have been given by the minister. Thus what we have been seized with in the last 48 days from the 100 days we were allocated,” said Dr. Engineer Chinyama.
The chairperson added that the meeting gave the Technical Committee clarity on the minister’s expectation and the city council’s expectation.
“We were able to factor those expectations into the work that we are already doing so that we try and achieve what we need to achieve in the 100 days. These are short term solutions but we also worked on the medium to long term solutions so that we can prepare for future implementation and solve this water problem for Bulawayo,” said Dr. Engineer Chinyama
