Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo yesterday refuted claims by Finance minister Tendai Biti that council had failed to utilise $6,5 million meant for water reticulation, saying the local authority was in fact looking for additional money to complete the projects.
Biti told Parliament during his presentation of the Mid-Term Fiscal Policy review on Wednesday that Bulawayo had not yet claimed its allocation to rehabilitate the city’s boreholes.
“I do not know where he gets that from,” Moyo said.
“Recently we commissioned the revamped sewer works at Aisleby Farm and Nyamandlovu.
“We are working on Thorngrove. I do not know what money he is referring to.
“The money that he is talking about is not there. We used it all.
“We are actually looking for $3 million for more projects. Maybe he is repeating what he said last year.”
Biti could not be reached for comment over Moyo’s reaction as his mobile phone went unanswered.
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The minister’s remarks came at a time when the local authority had launched a harsh water-rationing regime following reports most of Bulawayo’s supply dams were below 50% of their capacity.
Recently, the municipality announced that it would introduce an eight-hour daily water-rationing regime for the city as water levels at the supply dams had reached alarming levels.
One of the supply dams, Umzingwane, was decommissioned recently, while the four remaining ones, Insiza, Inyankuni, Lower and Upper Ncema, hold less than 40% of their full capacity combined.
The arid Matabeleland region has now pinned its hope on the completion of the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project, a 100-year-old scheme to tap water from the Zambezi River.
