The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) says it has received $6,7 million from the Australian government to rehabilitate water and sanitation infrastructure at six local authorities, including Shurugwi Town Council.
In a statement released yesterday, the Unicef Zimbabwe Country Office said the assistance was mobilised in March.
Part of the statement reads: “Unicef Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme has identified various urban centres that require rehabilitation of the water and sanitation infrastructure.
“This rehabilitation will involve electrical, mechanical as well as civil works which include repair, replacement and reconstruction of broken down equipment and infrastructure at water supplies and sewage systems.”
According to Unicef, 18% of the population has no access to safe drinking water, while 56% do not have access to sanitation facilities.
The other towns set to benefit from the scheme include Chipinge, Chiredzi, Karoi, Bindura and Rusape.
The UN agency said the Australian government had contributed over $27 million since 2009 in a bid to curb fresh outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, which affected 98 522 and killed 4 282 people between 2008 and 2009.
Between 2010 and 2011, the incidence of cholera outbreaks had significantly subsided with the country recording 1 134 cholera cases and 45 deaths.
