A LARGE section of Cowdray Park in Bulawayo has gone dry for more than two weeks, exposing over 1 000 residents to waterborne diseases.
Zimbabwe is currently battling a cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 100 lives, which has left many residents worried as authorities blame a technical fault for the taps drying up in the area.
In an interview, a residents’ representative Etmas Mthombeni told Southern Eye that they were resorting to unsafe water sources. “We have gone for two weeks now without water and we have started to fetch water from open wells.”
Ward 6 councillor, Nkosinathi Hove Mpofu said the ward has several issues which need urgent attention, with the water crisis a priority.
“There are a lot of issues and the whole ward needs urgent attention because as it is, people are drinking from wells that are dug right next to blair toilets, and even worse, some areas do not have toilets. This should be looked into because the area may be an epi-centre for cholera,” Mpofu said.
Bulawayo deputy mayor Donaldson Mabuto said he was not aware of the situation.
“We have not received the news yet, but the ward councillor should be in a better position to engage the engineers on that issue so that it is resolved,” Mabuto said.
“There are high lying areas, which include Cowdray Park and when our reservoirs are low; it affects the water supplies to the high lying areas. However, city bowsers are deployed to the areas to supply water to the residents.
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