via Bulawayo24 NEWS | Gwanda introduces water rationing 10 November 2013
Cash strapped Municipality of Gwanda has introduced a 16 hour per day water cut off to its residents as water rationing exercise.
According to a council statement made via a public notice, water in the town will be cut off daily between 4 pm and 8 am the following day. The rationing was effective from Thursday the 7th of November two days after council had gone out on a massive drive inviting people to settle their water bills.
The Municipality of Gwanda’s new council is reported to have recently adopted and pursued a resolution by the previous council to take over the water treatment plant from ZINWA and supply residents with water direct. Council is understood to have complained that they were paying too much for the water from ZINWA and so making Gwanda Town water expensive for the residents. The municipal water charges to residents are reported to have been the most expensive in urban local authorities, even more expensive than Harare and Bulawayo. Early this year the then Minister of Water Minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo had to intervene demanding ZINWA to reduce the price of water to Council.
THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) was forced to reduce the price of water to Gwanda Municipality from $1,06 to $0,70 per cubic metre by the Minister in April this year. For a long time, the Gwanda Town Council and Zinwa have been on each other’s throats concerning the high tariffs Zinwa was charging for treated water.
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