Walter Mswazie in Masvingo
MASVINGO City Council needs US$6 million for the installation of the solar system at its main water plant, Bushmead to ease water cuts caused by load-shedding, an official has said.
Addressing a water conference organised by Masvingo United Ratepayers and Residents Alliance (MURRA) at a local hotel last week, Chief Engineer Tawanda Gozo said load shedding was affecting pumping of water but council did not have the capacity to finance an alternative source of power.
He also reiterated that the long-awaited financial feasibility study for US$75 million water augmentation loan from China was now complete.
“Our residents accuse us of paying lip service to the issue of water woes which are now perennial. We have considered all the alternatives to address the problem as you know the issue of power shedding is a national problem.
“Residents have suggested that we install solar or buy generators for the plant and we have considered all those alternatives. For us to install solar system with the capacity to pump water from the plant, we need at least US$6 million.”
He said solar power was the best alternative in the wake of challenges facing the country but was very expensive.
“With the economic challenges, we cannot afford to install solar system at that prohibitive cost, let alone asking residents to pay.
“We envisaged getting a dedicated power line but it seems that was not attainable as the power utility, Zesa has not been forthcoming on this.
“We are left in a dilemma over the water situation. It also costs US$1,5 million for us to buy a generator with a capacity to power the pumps and the generator requires at least 150 litres of diesel per hour, every day,” he said.