The Sunday Mail
“We could have died, I believe it is by God’s grace that we are still alive,” said Gogo Makotore from Amaveni High Density Suburb in Kwekwe.
Gogo Makotore and her family experienced a normal urban life with functioning water and sewer facilities for close to two decades since the time they bought their house in the early 1990s. However, seven years that followed made the grandmother of two regret and hate urban life. Sewage had become the new “normal”. It accumulated into a permanent pool at her house. Even when she left for her rural home, the house failed to attract tenants as they could not endure the situation.
“We experienced sewer bursts from 2008. The whole yard was flooded with sewage, including the garden area. As such, we could not grow vegetables, children could not play or even eat outside, the smell was unbearable although over the years we got used to it. We had to create a footpath using bricks to enable us to get outside the gate without walking in the sewage. Even up to now, we wonder how cholera missed us,” narrated the 63-year-old grandmother.
“We would report to the maintenance team at the City Council offices but they only managed to fix the problem temporarily. The sewer would burst again in no time,” she said.
Dilapidated sewer infrastructure characterise most of the urban centres in the country. This is due to old age, poor maintenance and vandalism, among other factors.
To help improve sanitation services in Kwekwe, ZimFund Urgent Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project Phase I (UWSSRP I) rehabilitated Amaveni Sewage Pump Station through replacement of pumps, installation of a new 11Kv transformer and associated works. These works were completed in 2015. The pump station had stopped working in 2008, thus making raw sewage find its way into people’s houses. Apart from Amaveni High Density Surburb, Amaveni Sewage Pump Station serves; Glenwood, Westend, Fitchlea, part of Gardenia Village and Globe and Phoenix suburbs. Other works in Kwekwe included rehabilitation of Mbizo Sewage Pump Station, Woodlands Sewage Pump Station, Northern Sewage Treatment Works, Rehabilitation of Dutchmans Pool Water Treatment Works, supply of sewer cleaning vehicles, supply of laboratory equipment and associated works.
This benefited approximately the whole population of Kwekwe which is estimated at 200 000. The project was completed in 2015. While residents such as Gogo Makotore now enjoy living in an environment that is free from sewage, this is not so for artisanal gold miners popularly known as ‘makorokoza’ in the mining town. It is claimed that the miners favour sewage water for gold processing as they believe it contains some chemicals that have higher gold affinity than potable water. Asked if they were not scared of contracting waterborne diseases such as cholera, one gold panner who identified himself as ‘Dreadman’ responded, “We don’t eat until after work”.
It is feared that gold panners may deliberately block sewerage pipes in and around the city to access sewage water for gold purification. To enhance the impact of ZimFund Phase one in Kwekwe, ZimFund under its consolidation works will replace pipes and control valves at Dutchman Pool plant, replace pumps at Chikago Reservoirs and Town Inlet Works, and provide institutional capacity building for the city council. The works are expected to be completed by 2019. ZimFund is a US$145 million water and sanitation and energy programme, which was established in 2010 after the 2008 cholera outbreak. Its donors include Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
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] & [email protected]
ZimFund is managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) as part of its operations to improve quality of life in Zimbabwe. African Development Bank supports other activities in Zimbabwe, including agriculture, energy, transport, private sector and economic and financial governance.
