KWEKWE Local government minister Ignatius Chombo came to the rescue of Redcliff town which has gone without water for almost a month by ordering Kwekwe City Council to restore supplies to the town.
Kwekwe disconnected water supplies to Redcliff over a $8 million debt which the town of 90 000 people accrued since 2009 owing to the collapse of Ziscosteel, the local authoritys major employer.
Chombo accused Kwekwe for committing atrocities against mankind by denying water to a whole population over the debt.
My ministry has received reports that Kwekwe City Council has disconnected water supplies to Redcliff Municipality as a result of outstanding payment.
May I stress the fact that water is a basic human right and to deprive a whole population of the ailing municipality due to non-payment not only endangers their lives in the wake of a myriad of diseases, but is utterly atrocious, reads part of Chombos directive marked X/18/13.
The directive dated April 11 ordered Kwekwe mayor Shadreck Tobaiwa to stop all water disconnections to the financially troubled municipality.
It is against this background that I, as so empowered by section 314 of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15), want to direct you to rescind your decision to disconnect water supplies to Redcliff. In the same vein make sure that water is availed (sic) as a matter of urgency to curtail disaster, wrote Chombo.
Chombo went on to mandate Kwekwe District Administrator Tenpercent Mutikizizi to convene a meeting between the two councils to come up with a payment plan.
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Informed sources told NewsDay that on Tuesday at a meeting chaired by Mutikizizi and attended by officials from Kwekwe, Redcliff and a team from Essar Africa Holdings, the biggest employer in the embattled town, to discuss the modalities of retiring the $8 million debt, was held in Redcliff.
