BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is facing a serious shortage of bowsers to deliver water to residents as the crisis deepens in the city.
BCC chairperson of the Future Water Supplies committee, Khalazani Ndlovu, confirmed that most of council’s bowsers were grounded, with council being forced to use a bowser from a private company.
“We are currently running on two bowsers, one which [is dedicated] to clinics and funerals and the other one which serves the community,” Ndlovu told Southern Eye.
The issue was first noted in a council meeting in January this year by councillor Octavious Nkomo, who noted that only one of the city’s eight bowsers was operational.
Mayor David Coltart also expressed concern over the issue.
“There is, indeed, a shortage of water bowsers and that is exacerbated by the shortage of water in the city, which has led to an increased need for water delivery by trucks,” he said.
“Since January, there has been a crisis, the water situation is dire than ever before.”
The water crisis has been amplified by low levels at Criterion and 6J, leading to the council’s failure to open water supplies to all parts of Pumula, Pelandaba West (Gleningdale), South Riding, Mqabuko Heights and Burnside (West of Burnside Road).
This has seen residents in the western suburbs of the city flocking to White City Stadium to get the precious liquid.
Meanwhile, residents in some parts of Luveve suburb have accused BCC of neglecting them after going for more than four months with no water supplies.
The revelations were made by the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) ward 16 chairperson Ndaba Ngoma in an interview with Southern Eye.
His remarks were corroborated by Sibangani Dube, one of the affected residents, and BPRA organising secretary Sukoluhle Ncube.
Ngoma said the affected area was behind Luveve Stadium, adding that they had reported the matter to BCC several times, but the situation has not been rectified.
“We have tried all means of reporting to the department of engineering responsible for water and our ward councillor also made several reports.
“We are surprised as they have failed to come and fix the problem. In the past years, we had no issues with regards to water supplies,” he said.
Dube said since April, residents had not had water in their taps.
“I made two reports to BCC and they have failed to rectify the problem. I made the first report in April and then the second was in June, but the situation has not been rectified,” he said.
He said nearby churches had resorted to buying water since council had failed to provide water browsers to affected residents.
Ncube said residents were paying water bill despite having not had water in their taps for some time, adding that the local authority had failed to send a browser even once a month.
Ward 16 councillor Greater Gumede said BCC had promised to rectify the problem.