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Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
RESIDENTS in Amaveni surbub in Kwekwe are up in arms with the local authority after it reportedly “ploughed” into graves at Amaveni Cemetery in an attempt to dig a sewer trench.

Residents had no kind words for the local authority saying the council did not have respect for the dead.

A female council engineer and an excavator operator who were at the scene, had to flee after residents mobilised in an attempt to manhandle them.

The council officials reportedly stumbled on some graves as they dug a sewer line to replace the existing one, destroying tombstones in the process.

This irked some residents who tried to manhandle the council officials on site.

Speaking during a full council meeting recently, Ward 8 Councillor Edumakomborero Mlambo said: “I am not sure what the council is trying to prove by digging up graves.

What do you intend to do with the area?

Do you want to demarcate residential stands or what?

By failing to respect the dead, what is council trying to prove?

Residents of Amaveni are not happy at all by what transpired and they want answers,” fumed Clr Mlambo.

He said he had to rush to the rescue of the council officials, among them a female engineer, before the angered resident could lay their hands on them.

“After receiving the news of what was happening, I quickly rushed to the scene and I had to rescue the officials from the angry residents.

Otherwise we could speaking of something else, maybe someone in hospital. But the residents want answers,” he said.

Town Clerk Dr Lucia Mnkandla apologised on behalf of council.

“Surely what happened was unfortunate and as council we would like to proffer our sincere apologies to those affected.

However, it is never council’s intention not to respect the dead and from what I know, this did not happen intentionally,” said Dr Mnkandla.

Director of Works, Eng John Mhike said the excavator they were using fell into a trench after the land gave in.

He said the machine ran over some graves damaging some tombstones as the operators tried to remove it.

“It is true, the incident happened and we proffer our sincere apologies.

I would however, like to put the record straight as to what happened.

This did not happen intentionally as alleged, but the machine that we were using fell into the trench and upon trying to remove it, it ran over some graves that are nearby, damaging some five or so tombstones that were there.

It is indeed a regrettable incident that we wish never happened,” said Eng Mhike.

Council is in the process of replacing old sewer lines.

The previous sewer line ran through the graveyard which Eng Mhike said was a result of poor planning.

“The planning was done way back before we came in and it is true that it was poorly planned.

But as we intend to replace the 20mm sewer pipes with bigger 40mm pipes.

We tried by all means to avoid the graves but in the end the unfortunate incident occurred,” said Eng Mhike.

Council has been receiving criticism from another section of residents who claim that sewage from the line was running into drinking water , exposing them to water-borne diseases.

“This is what we intend to solve once and for all so that our residents can drink safe and clean water,” explained Eng Mhike.

Meanwhile, Clr Mlambo brought a bottle of “dirty” water which he said was coming out of taps in Amaveni.

“This is the water we are drinking and I brought it to this chamber so that everyone can taste it.

This is the same water we are consuming in Amaveni and it’s not fit for human consumption,” said the recently elected councillor.

Eng Mhike said it was unfortunate and said council will carry out tests before the water is pumped out to residents.

“We do our best in cleaning our water so that our residents get the cleanest water.

However, from what the councillor has shown us we are now moving to conduct tests both before the water is pumped and from the taps so that we get to know what exactly is happening.

Otherwise, when we pump the water, it will be clean,” he said.

Kwekwe City, a usually reliable water authority, has been facing problems lately amid suspicion that mining activities upstream of Sebakwe Dam were contaminating the water making it difficult to purify.