via Chinese water engineers to help upgrade Harare water delivery system | The Herald Municipal Reporter September 18, 2013
CHINESE water engineers who were seconded to upgrade the city’s water delivery system under the US$144 million China Import and Export Bank loan have started arriving in the country and are already holding meetings with council officials. In an interview Harare Water director Engineer Christopher Zvobgo said yesterday they have started work with seven engineers who are already in the country while a bigger delegation is expected to arrive on Sunday.
“A delegation of seven engineers arrived on Sunday and we are expecting another engineer tomorrow (today),” said Eng Zvobgo.
“On Sunday we are expecting a bigger delegation of 19 engineers. We are doing some preliminary work and we are also arranging for their accommodation.”
The city partnered with CMEC of China in the implementation of the project after sourcing funding from that country.
This came after residents complained that they were not getting enough water and also after realising that the water and sewer distribution network was old and needed replacement.
Occasional major pipe bursts were forcing residents to fetch water from unprotected sources, posing health hazards.
The refurbishment of the Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant which is expected to start this week would mark the end of water problems facing Harare.
The Chinese Export Import Bank and has already acquired material to be used for the refurbishment of the 60-year-old plant.
Harare Water currently produces 450 mega-litres a day from Prince Edward and Morton Jaffray waterworks, 100 of which are lost through leaks and dilapidated infrastructure against a normal requirement of 900 mega litres a day.
The daily requirement in September has risen to between 1 200 to 1 500 mega litres due to the prevailing hot temperatures.
At full implementation Morton Jaffray and Prince Edward water treatment plants are expected to produce up to 705 mega litres a day.
COMMENTS
UZ produced many Civil Engineers specializing in water. What couldn’t they lure them back from wherever they are? If you pay them proper wages, they will certainly do the work. After the Chinese engineers are done, they are going back home. The Zim engineers would continue to maintain the new infrastructure that would already be familiar with.
This is the kind of empowerment that we need in Zimbabwe ? This rubbish of loans with strings attached must stop. I think we have the best graduates we can equally do the job. Are these engineers ever going to pay tax to Zimra? We can not have people to provide loans, tender and win contracts.
The great educated Zimbabwe population cannot produce water engineers, have to import them from China. Sad but really indicative of the lack of education and moral backbone of society today. It is no wonder Mugabe won the election with a landslide.
You are missing the point. Gu shun ngo got money from the chinese to rig the elections. In return the chinese get their money, plus they get all the jobs, the tenders, everything. You are only there to do errands for the chinese. Gu shun ngo is a honorary chinese.Pamberi nema fong kong.
“China is home to some of the most polluted rivers and water supplies. Of the 20 dirtiest cities on the globe, 16 are in China” [World Bank]. With that record, what can their ‘water engineers’ possibly teach us?
Which chinese studs are helping grace with getting pregnant, while bob is looking up the chinese ass.
In power for 3 and a half decade and not a single water engineer. It looks like all the octogenarian dinosaur is good at is stealing elections and plundering national resources.
Look East policy! Mugabe knows where his bread is buttered. Vakamubetsera kuramba aripo pachigaro saka unovatendavoka! Our colleges and unis produce engineers year after year but are never noticed. Its sad!
And to think there was a time when Rhodesia\Zimbabwe was self sufficient in running and maintaining the infrastructure of this country, Zanupf were given a jewel on a platter, even if they did not develop the infrastructure, if they had merely maintained what they were given, Zimbabwe would be way better than it is now!