THE ZIMBABWE
PEACE PROJECT
A woman holds a water bottle as she passes thru a borehole near Siyanzundu, Binga, ZW.
Due to the acute water scarcity in the area, pple leave buckets in a 'queue' till day end when
the water table is replenished enough for boreholes to pump out the precious water
Urban areas,
have continued to
experience water shortages attributed to a
combination of the shortage or water
treatment chemicals and the drying up of
water reserves.
Residents have been forced to rely on open
water sources or overcrowded manually
pumped boreholes.
Some of the water sources are not safe and
can expose people to diseases such as
typhoid, cholera and diarrhea.
For example, in Bulawayo, the city has
recorded nearly 400 cases of of diarrhea
since September in three hotspots ..
According to The Guardian newspaper,
people interviewed in Bulawayo believe
they are drinking sewage water.
“We are drinking sewage water and we are
all going to get sick. The city council
should respect us. What is surprising is that
we have been paying bills every month
without a drop of water. How is that fair
when my children have to drink this dirty
water?”
“We have the right to water. What do they
want us to do? We do not have boreholes,
seriously we cannot survive like this.”
Apart from exposing people to Covid-19,
the water problems have resulted in some
having to queue for as long as five hours
just to get a bucket of water. Some young
girls and women who wake up as early as 2
am to queue for water have reported
sexual and other forms of harassment.