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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
GOVERNMENT has availed $5,8 million in the 2019 national budget to the city of Gweru for water works meant to improve service delivery in the Midlands provincial capital.

Addressing a 2019 budget consultative meeting at Town House yesterday, acting mayor Councillor Cleopas Shiri said from the allocation, $4 million will be used to buy new water pumps and rehabilitation of Gwenhoro water pump station.

Clr Shiri said the other $1,8 million will go towards capital projects.

“The Government in the annual 2019 national budget allocated Gweru City Council $4 million to go towards the rehabilitation of water services that are bedevilling the city. So we are going to use the money to purchase new water pumps to improve water pumping capacity to meet the ever increasing demand for potable water as well as rehabilitation of Gwenhoro water pump station for smooth flow of water. The other $1,8 million will go towards capital projects,” he said.

Town clerk, Ms Elizabeth Gwatipedza, said pumps at Gwenhoro water pump station were installed in 1957 and there is need to change them.

“The pumps we are using at Gwenhoro water pump station were installed in 1957 and are therefore very old and need to be changed. So with the allocation from Government we are going to purchase new pumps. However the pumps we want cost over $1 million meaning we won’t be able to purchase as many pumps as we would have wanted,” said Ms Gwatipedza addressing the same meeting.

She said council’s sewer system had also totally collapsed forcing the local authority to dump raw sewage at its Go Beer Breweries farm.

“Our sewer system also needs a complete overhaul as we are currently discharging raw sewage at our farm. We used to discharge it in rivers and we were fined by EMA,” said Ms Gwatipedza.