Urban local authorities may soon fail to provide water to residents as water treatment chemicals run out.
Harare city council has been failing to provide 50% of its residents’ water needs for some time now owing to shortages of the chemicals.
President of the Urban Councils’ Association of Zimbabwe (Ucaz), who is also mayor of the City Of Gweru, Josiah Makombe had this to say
Local authorities have been facing a challenge in sourcing water treatment chemicals because suppliers are charging in foreign currency, yet councils do not have that kind of money.
What it entails is that because local authorities do not have adequate supplies of foreign currency, they have reduced quantities they buy from local suppliers, but I still have to check with my secretary-general to get full details on the actual state of supplies (water treatment chemicals) in the market.
Harare City Council’s acting director for water, Mabhena Moyo said they have engaged the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for foreign currency to import the chemicals needed. He had this to say
We have reduced the water we are treating because we don’t have chemicals. We have engaged the RBZ but we are yet to get a favourable response. We checked with all our suppliers locally, we don’t have sulphuric acid and we hope that the central bank will help very fast.