The Sunday Mail
“Sewer bursts had become a common feature, sometimes the sewage would find its way inside the house, it was horrible,” narrated 54-year-old Mrs Ellen Chingodza, a Ruwa resident for the past 24 years.
“We had not been getting water from our taps for more than 10 years here in Ruwa, and we had become prone to water borne diseases, especially cholera,” said a 24-year-old expecting mother, Pauline Tamai.
“I was receiving estimated water bills due to the faulty water meter,” chipped in another resident Ms Mutenda.
These are some of the experiences narrated by Ruwa residents during a ZimFund Community Engagement Workshop held in the town recently. The workshop was aimed at learning, sharing ideas as well as best practices among beneficiaries about ZimFund interventions in their communities. The involvement of beneficiaries in the designing and implementation of developmental programmes is essential in achieving sustainable and meaningful transformation.
Ruwa town is one of the urban centres in the country struggling to provide clean water and sanitation service owing to broken down infrastructure at water treatment plants and sewage pump stations.
As a result of these challenges, Ruwa town was selected as one of the beneficiaries under ZimFund Urgent Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project phase two (UWSSRP II). ZimFund intervention in Ruwa includes; Replacement of old and broken water distribution pipes and sewer pipelines, Rehabilitation of Chiremba and Runyararo sewage pump stations and Ruwa Water Treatment Works as well as the installation of new pipelines to the distribution reservoir and the procurement of sewer cleaning vehicles and trucks, water meters and associated goods.
The project is still ongoing and some of the works have already been completed. These include replacement of old and broken water distribution pipes and sewage collection pipes in Runyararo Township.
“We started getting water from our taps in February this year after the replacement of old pipes in our area,” said Pauline.
“My water meter was replaced in March and since then I have been receiving correct bills,” said Mutenda.
Mrs Chingodza added: “We last experienced sewer bursts after the installation of new sewer pipelines in our area late last year”.
Even though Runyararo Township residents are now getting water after replacement of distribution pipes, the whole town is still subjected to water rationing. This is due to broken down infrastructure at Ruwa Water Treatment Works (RWTW) which is currently producing about 1,5 megalitres (1,5 million litres) per day even though its capacity is 7,5 megalitres per day. After the completion of ZimFund’s intervention, RWTW is expected to return to its full capacity, thus, ensuring that approximately 120 000 Ruwa residents get daily water supply, from the current three days per week, bringing new hope for the residents.
“We look forward to getting clean water more constantly as the project comes to completion, we are indeed grateful to ZimFund for intervening in Ruwa,” Pauline said.
“I would like to encourage fellow residents to pay their bills to help Ruwa Local Board sustain the great works being done by ZimFund,” said 63-year-old Mr Samson Mucheragovha.
“As women, let us be on the forefront in taking care of the infrastructure given to us, as we suffer the most in the absence of proper sanitation and clean water,” added Ms Mutenda.
The Ruwa water and sanitation infrastructure rehabilitation is expected to be completed by October 2018.
ZimFund is a US$145 million water & sanitation and energy programme which was established in 2010 after the 2008 Cholera outbreak. Its donors are; Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ZimFund is managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) as part of its operations to improve living conditions in Zimbabwe. The African Development Bank Group supports other activities in Zimbabwe which include; agriculture, energy, transport, private sector and economic and financial governance.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ZimFund donors, the African Development Bank, its board of directors or the countries they represent. For feedback and more information kindly contact: ZimFund Communications: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]
