HARARE mayor Muchadeyi Masunda has blamed the current water shortages which have seen most suburbs going without the precious liquid for weeks on end to a major breakdown at the main treatment plant, Morton Jaffray Waterworks.
REPORT BY SENIOR REPORTER Addressing journalists at Quill Club in Harare on Wednesday, Masunda said eight of the 14 pumps at the plant had broken down.
“We have at Morton Jaffray a total of 14 pumps. Of those 14, we had nine working, but now we are down to six pumps. We need to get the money to get engineering firms to fix the pumps,” Masunda said.
“We don’t expect to get any funds from government because there is no money, but we can use the resources that we have. Do you know that the city owns between six to seven thousand cattle? The city owns five farms on the periphery of Harare.”
Water demand in Harare alone is currently at 1 200 megalitres a day yet the municipality is currently producing 620 megalitres for Harare, Chitungwiza and Norton.
The city’s water crisis has also been blamed on shortage of treatment chemicals amid reports that water consumed in the capital contains 50% human waste.
