LAWMAKERS clashed in Parliament recently over Zimbabwe’s nationwide sewage crisis, with Mbare legislator Darlington Chigumbu demanding action.
However, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development minister Anxious Masuka shifted responsibility to local authorities, outlining central government interventions.
The exchange centred on what measures the government has put in place to stop sewage bursts and protect public health.
Chigumbu asked what the government was doing to deal with the sewage bursts affecting communities across the country.
He said: “What measures are in place to assist on the issue of sewage, which is always bursting nationwide, so that our people can live in a clean environment?”
Masuka said service delivery failures stemmed from elected council representatives and urged voters to choose capable leaders in the next election.
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“Firstly, I would want to thank you because you have noted that there is a problem with elected council representatives,” he said.
“That is where corruption is . . . Local authorities have the task of providing service delivery, water, sewage and refuse.”
The minister said the government stepped in where councils failed, citing Geo Pomona for waste removal and broader infrastructure projects.
“Currently, the government under the leadership of President ED Mnangagwa has intervened because councils have failed to provide service delivery.
“We now have Geo Pomona, which intervened by providing service in waste removal.”
Masuka outlined ongoing projects, including the Gwayi-Shangani pipeline for Bulawayo, Kunzvi Dam for Harare and public-private partnerships for water treatment and prepaid metering.
“The government will start with Bulawayo . . . We are also working on plans for Harare. . . Government brokered a deal between the City of Harare and a private company to start repairing the water treatment conveyance system and we have seen prepaid meters being installed as part of the revenue model,” he stated.