SERVICE delivery in Harare has deteriorated sharply, with the city contending with erratic water supplies, collapsing road infrastructure, unreliable refuse collection and a non-functional billing system, residents have said.
The City of Harare has been marred by poor service delivery for far too long.
In a report released by the Harare Residents Trust (HRT), residents said they only received municipal water twice a week on average, with the precious liquid often contaminated.
“The residents report that they have been receiving water twice a week on average. The water has impurities when it is available,” the report stated.
“When it is left in containers, the water turns greenish or brownish, which reduces confidence among residents to drink it.
“Observations by residents are that the city water dries their skin, probably due to the treatment chemicals they are using.”
The residents said some suburbs had gone for two weeks without running water which forced communities to form co-operatives to drill boreholes.
“Residents have become desperate for municipal water supplies. In all suburbs, water availability has worsened, with some residents going for two weeks without receiving any water.
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“In some suburbs, water availability is erratic, with households receiving water once or twice a week. Yet in other suburbs, residents have water most of the week except weekends up to late on Mondays.
“Communities desperate for water have come up with an alternative plan. Residents have teamed up to form local community water co-operatives, where they drill a borehole and connect to each member upon payment of agreed- upon fees, which include joining and membership fees,” the report said.
According to the residents, this has led to some residents falling prey to bogus drilling companies.
“Lately, residents in such local water co-operatives have raised concern about the dishonesty of some borehole drilling companies that lie about the depth of the boreholes,” the report added.
“Additionally, the bogus drilling companies rush to claim that they have found water without doing comprehensive exploration to drill the boreholes on the most appropriate sites.
“A significant number of boreholes in Glen Norah, Southlea Park, Nehanda and Budiriro are dying up.”
The report said the state of roads was equally dire, with the majority of them in high-density suburbs in bad shape, increasing vehicle maintenance costs while posing health risks to residents as a result of dust.
“The majority of the roads in Harare’s high-density residential suburbs are in bad shape, with potholes everywhere.
“The situation is better in the low-density areas, where the residents sometimes use their personal resources to do road patching and council workers put more energy into repairing and maintaining roads leading to the homes of the powerful elite in society.
“In Mbare, residents are disgruntled by the poor state of their streets. Vehicles passing by leave a trail of dust filling their homes. This has forced many households to keep their windows and doors closed most of the time.
“If not closed, sofas and floors will be (covered with) dust. Due to the dust (raised), residents now fear contracting diseases.”
The report flagged Willowvale Road, First Street off Boshoff Drive in Ardbernie, stretching to Waterfalls Police Station; Boshoff Drive, which links Simon Mazorodze and Seke Road, passing through Houghton Park, Ardbernie and Sunningdale; Dzivarasekwa Extension main road linking Solomon Mujuru Road as the most disastrous ones.
The residents indicated that refuse collection remained irregular under Geo Pomona Waste Management, which has led to the emergence of illegal dumpsites across suburbs.
“Residents report that refuse collection is erratic in all the suburbs, under the Geo Pomona Waste Management Company. Illegal dumpsites are emerging in many suburbs,” the report said.
The residents said electricity supply remained low, which has forced residents to rely on gas and solar power.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company plans to charge US$25 for compliance inspections, arguing that poor connections are the major causes of fire outbreaks.
“The electricity supply situation has remained subdued in many suburbs. Electricity consumers continue to spend more money on gas and solar lighting, given the increasing unreliability of the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company to provide adequate power,” the HRT report said.
"ZETDC intends to conduct compliance inspections of domestic consumers and proposes to charge US$25 per property inspected.
“They claim that a lot of the properties have poor electrical connections, which have been the major cause of fire outbreaks in residential areas.”
