Capital city needs Zim $49 billion to save water works

Municipal authorities in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, will need an estimated Zim $49 billion (US $8.7 million) to restore the city's dilapidated water distribution system, according to official sources. Ongoing neglect of the water and sewerage infrastructure forced the council to restrict water supplies to Harare residents to just six hours a day last week. Of the US $8.7 million needed, US $3.2 million would be used for water and sewer reticulation, the official Herald newspaper reported on Monday. Nearly US $710,000 would go towards upgrading the water distribution network, which was in "shambles and leading to the loss of large volumes of treated water". Harare-based economist Denis Nikisi told IRIN the municipality would "have no problem" raising the funds for the improvements from the domestic market. "It may take some time and convincing, but the council will persuade local financial institutions and the central government to lend it the money," he said. He alleged that because the ruling ZANU-PF party now had virtual control of Harare, after opposition Movement for Democratic Change councillors resigned en masse last month claiming political interference in their duties, it would be "easier" to raise the cash for overhauling the city's water works. "The ZANU-PF-dominated council will now claim that the MDC mishandled the water affairs of the city, which led to the current situation. But the fact is that the entire system has been in disrepair long before the MDC was represented in the council," Nikisi claimed. Recurrent breaks in the purified water supply have forced Harare residents to use river water, raising concerns over possible outbreaks of waterborne diseases. The municipality has said it did not have the resources or the foreign currency needed to import water-purifying chemicals, while foreign suppliers have cut credit to Zimbabwe nd now only supply chemicals when paid in advance.