The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Reporter
BULAWAYO residents have called on the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to suspend their rehabilitation works of the Criterion Water treatment plants which has seen some suburbs going for five days without any water supplies.
This comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the residents saying the ongoing water cuts could exacerbate the spread of the virus.
People are encouraged to regularly wash their hands with soap under running water but the water shortage in the city has seen residents failing to implement the initiative.
In a statement, Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association called for the suspension of the rehabilitation work, which falls under the Bulawayo Sewer Services Improvement and water Project.
The residents noted that the rehabilitation was a direct threat to the fight against the Coronavirus.
While some of the key messages around the preventive measures against COVID-19 has been the urging of people to wash their hands regularly with water and soap it is unfortunate that residents have now gone for more than five days without water.
“This is comes after BCC decided to go ahead with a water rehabilitation project which has resulted in the cutting of water supply to the residents as from Saturday 21 March…We are hereby calling on BCC to reinstate water supply to the residents and call for the suspension of the BSSIWP until further notice,” reads part of the statement.
The resident’s association accused the local authority of dishonesty after they released a statement on Tuesday alleging that supplies had been restored in some areas.
“On 24 March BCC released a statement and deceived residents into believing that they would have their water supply back by the end of day.
“What BCC has done for the past five days and counting is exposing people to heightened risks of contracting the COVID-19 virus as people have gone for days without water thereby inhibiting them from constantly washing their hands,” reads the statement.
