PLUMTREE Town Council has been given the green light to take over water reticulation from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) to supply the border town with the commodity.
Senior Reporter
Water Resources Development and Management minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo told journalists in Victoria Falls last week that Plumtree had capacity to operate the system.
Nkomo said the government would monitor the council for a period of six months to see how it performs in its new role.
“Plumtree Town Council applied and we set up a commission which came out with a report that yes, the local authority is capable of supplying water to its people,” he said.
“We will walk with them for six months to see if they supply good water. We had to intervene in Harare and Bulawayo because the local authorities could not manage to supply safe water to the people.”
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He said any local authority was free to apply for autonomy from Zinwa as long as they were able to prove their capability. He said the government was the principal supplier of water and Zinwa was its agent.
Nkomo said as a parastatal, Zinwa could not just abdicate that role to local authorities without being satisfied they could manage.