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Mkhululi Ncube, Chronicle Reporter
BULAWAYO City Council has expressed concern over the high-water consumption by residents which exceeds the daily limit set by the local authority.

Council removed punitive water restrictions but maintained water rationing with high-density suburbs allocated 450 litres per household daily and low-density areas expected to use 650 litres daily per household.

BCC last year battled a water crisis which saw most areas going for days without running water resulting in Government chipping in to assist the city by funding water projects.

The above to normal rainfalls received last year further boosted the city supply dams which saw them increasing to an average of 67 percent by end of December.

Speaking during a media briefing on the 2022 budget consultations, Mayor Solomon Mguni said residents are not following the daily water limit.

“Our concern has been the challenge of high-water consumption with the city experiencing a record high figure of 180ML/ day on the 19th of September 2021. The city`s consumption average has been generally around 150 ML/day-160 ML/day. May I encourage each and every one of us to be good stewards and ensure that we conserve our water and also use it within allocated rationing limits,” he said.

Cllr Mguni said he was hopeful that the city will receive good rains as predicted by weather experts.

He decried the use of parallel market rates by suppliers doing business with the city which he said affected the performance of the 2021 city budget.

“The exchange rate movement affected the value of our currency as suppliers pegged their products using the black market rates which were above the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe auction rates by 33 percent or more.

“When crafting the 2021 budget last year your council used the official exchange rate of ZW$83/US$. Council was forced to review service delivery levels when the disparity between the official and the black-market rates widened by a large margin,” he said.

The Mayor said prices of fuel, water chemicals, and electricity which are key in-service delivery skyrocketed which further hampered service delivery.

He said council was further hit by Covid-19 which also affected service delivery as it locked other revenues received by the city through the hiring of its infrastructure but expressed optimism that the city will soon achieve herd immunity.

“The city has continued in the vaccination drive in a bid to achieve herd immunity over the past few months. There has been an increase in the number of vaccination centres. I am happy to say that according to the latest statistics Bulawayo is heading towards achieving herd immunity with 50 percent of the target population eligible for vaccination having received the first dose of vaccines, said Cllr Mguni.

He challenged residents yet to be vaccinated to get the vaccine in order to protect themselves and others. — @themkhust