Harare City Council is appealing to authorities to stop land development projects in Warwick Farm on the periphery of Lake Chivero as activities are threatening the water body with siltation.
Warwick Farm is at the centre of a protracted dispute pitting residents, who have been living on the land since 2000 under the land reform programme and Warwickshire (Pvt) Ltd, a company fronted by Nicholas Nyandoro.
Residents, who are mostly beneficiaries of the land reform programme, fear that changes in land use would pose a serious threat to water security and fragment the ecosystem around the lake.
Last Monday, Harare City Council’s disaster, risk management and public safety committee vice-chairperson Tafadzwa Machirori visited the lake and expressed concern over a housing project at Warwick Farm.
Machirori said the lake was at a high risk of soil deposits.
“As a committee we went to Lake Chivero to see what is happening around it,” he said.
“Human settlement and farming activities in the catchment area threaten the future of Lake Chivero.
“As Harare we are much worried about the threat this housing development project poses to the future of our main source of water.
“Yes, the area is not part of our jurisdiction and falls under Zvimba district, but we are much worried about the siltation of the water body.”
Machirori said Lake Chivero would soon become a dead water body because of the silt being accumulated in it.
“If we allow these housing developments to proceed, I foresee disaster, we won’t go beyond five years with this water body,” he said.
“There is a need for collaborative efforts to stop these housing developments and push for environmental sustainability projects.
“The soil around the lake is too soft and easily washes away.”
Machirori said Harare City Council would soon engage the Environmental Management Agency, Zimbabwe National Water Authority, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and other relevant stakeholders over the issue.
This publication established that Lake Chivero’s depth has been reduced from 27 metres to 16 metres holding capacity due to siltation.
Apart from massive water hyacinth weed coverage, the lake is heavily polluted due to raw sewage from Harare and Chitungwiza as well as industrial effluent.
Only three out of 10 original fish species remain due to the poor quality of water as a result of oxygen depletion.
About seven chemicals instead of three are being used to treat water to acceptable levels for human consumption levels at the Morton Jaffrey water treatment plant, which is negatively impacting Harare City Council’s budget.
The Standard, through its investigative unit, Truth Diggers, established that land development projects at Warwick Farm are being carried out by a number of private companies under Warwickshire (Pvt) Ltd.
Sources said the projects do not adhere to environmental legislation and the land developers, most of them which are not registered, did not secure necessary approval from relevant authorities.
Land developers including Rock Ridge Private Limited, Lake City (Pvt) Ltd, Fungeo Developers, Charlene Investments and Zambuko Trust are involved in the land business at Warwick Farm, The Standard established.
This publication also obtained a list of individuals involved in the selling of stands at Warwick Farm and these include Happyson Muchechetere, Emmanuel Chikono, Elijah Tembo, Washington Nhira, Kenny Chagunda, Ignatious Nheya, Lynet Mufamba and Thomas Chizemo, among others.
A representative of Lakeshore 2000 Trust, an association in lieu of Warwick Farm residents, Ndabaningi Matinyenya told The Standard that they have engaged authorities over the state of land degradation in Warwick Farm caused by land developers.
“As residents we have hopped from one office to another raising alarm over the environmental degradation this housing project poses,” he said.
“Even EMA carried out an environmental impact assessment, which we feel was corruptly done because it does not address the issues on the ground.
“We have since invited EMA to come on the ground and see for themselves what Harare City Council did.”
EMA officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.