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NewsDay

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Harare CBD to endure 3 weeks of erratic water supply

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RESIDENTS in Harare’s central business district (CBD) are set to endure three weeks of erratic water supply following the closure of the Kopje reservoirs, which supply treated water to the city centre, for repairs.

RESIDENTS in Harare’s central business district (CBD) are set to endure three weeks of erratic water supply following the closure of the Kopje reservoirs, which supply treated water to the city centre, for repairs.

BY MOSES MATENGA

The shutdown is meant to allow for the “retrofitting of new inlet and outlet pipes”.

“The reservoir has been leaking for some time now leading to the flooding of properties within the vicinity of the giant reservoirs,” Michael Chideme, the city spokesperson, said.

“The CBD will temporarily be supplied from the Alex Park reservoirs, which also supply the northern suburbs. This means residents of the northern suburbs will, as well, experience low pressure during the period.”

Chideme said water supplies to other low-density areas would also be low, as some maintenance work was taking place at Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant on two medium pumps.

Meanwhile, Harare City Council has accused its drivers of causing most breakdowns of the local authority’s refuse collection fleet by driving recklessly.

This emerged recently when councillors toured the city council’s vehicle workshops and discovered that most of the defects were caused by human error.

The tour was organised by the environmental management committee.

Currently, the local authority’s refuse collection department operates with a lean fleet of 18 out of 46 vehicles.

“The breakdown and wear trends on the refuse collection fleet point to general abuse through excessive speeding, hard braking, poor gear selection and other vices constantly picked up by the tracking system,” the committee noted.

The committee said action was now being taken to curb abuse of council vehicles.

Dumping sites were also said to be in a deplorable state, with the trucks’ power train submerged in mud, therefore, breaking components and leading to poor cooling.

The late servicing of refuse collection trucks for different reasons has led people into dumping garbage, including used diapers and condoms, openly in most residential areas, posing a serious health hazard.