FRESH disputes have erupted in Kuwadzana’s Fountain Blue area in Harare after residents engaged a contractor to dig trenches for their long-delayed sewer system, only to be stopped by complaints from neighbouring Parkridge residents.
The development comes just weeks after our sister paper NewsDay exposed the plight of Fountain Blue residents, who had been living without proper sewer facilities since settling in the area in 2012.
Residents said they hired a contractor to dig a trench that would connect their system to the Mazai Sewage Treatment Works. But the work immediately sparked protests from Parkridge residents, who accused the contractor of encroaching on their residential stands.
Parkridge Housing Consortium chairman Charles Matsika reported the matter to Kuwadzana Police Station, accusing the Fountain Blue contractor of damaging private property.
Police have since ordered the suspension of the trenching exercise pending investigations.
Fountain Blue residents; however, vowed to go ahead with the project, accusing Parkridge of deliberately frustrating their right to basic services.
“We will not stop until this issue is resolved in court. We have documents supporting our sewer line route. What is happening is that Parkridge stands, which came years after us, are disturbing a development we have been waiting for since 2016,” Fountain Blue resident Lucky Musaengana told Standard People.
Residents said they had contributed US$120 per household nearly a decade ago for the sewer system and could no longer endure the cost of septic tanks and the health hazards of untreated waste.
“We cannot continue living with septic tanks and Blair toilets in a city suburb,” said another Parkridge resident, Never Hiya.
The incident shows land and service delivery disputes in Harare’s mushrooming housing cooperatives, where overlapping claims continue to frustrate access to basic amenities.
Harare City Council spokesperson Stanley Gama promised to issue a statement on the issue, but had not done so by the time of going to print.