Service delivery in Harare is on the verge of collapse and may easily become extinct if residents fail to take up their own responsibilities in maintaining the existing services.
One of the critical programme priorities of the Harare Residence Trust is building a responsible citizenry. We note with concern a culture that is within the public towards its own environment.
There have been reports of vandalism of water and sewerage reticulation systems in communities such as Kambuzuma where residents were caught chopping a water carriage pipe in search of water.
Electricity cables are daily vandalised by known and unknown residents residing within our communities, driven by their greedy and narrow view of community belonging.
At a recent meeting on the water demand situation in Harare, Engineer Christopher Zvobgo, the Director of Harare Water indicated that the sewerage and water plants (Morton Jaffray and Prince Edward) have been affected by the use of grit (jecha) by residents. This has caused many sewerage chokes which have pushed City of Harare to buy three pressure pumps to clear drainage systems.
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This is an additional cost on the part of the local authority and will be shouldered by struggling residents.
Persistent water shortages are mainly attributed to poor pumping capacity by Harare Water which is supplying 50% of the daily requirement of 1 200 megalitres required by residents in Harare, Chitungwiza and Norton.
The city claims that it requires US$3 million for water treatment and purification every month; US$2 million for water chemicals and US$1 million for Zesa charges. Due to pollution being caused to water sources by industries, 10 water treatment chemicals are used by Harare council as compared to other local authorities like Mutare that use at most three treatment chemicals.
The water crisis has also been caused by countless and frequent water bursts in the city centre and suburbs. We cannot afford to waste the little water we have.
Refuse collection is inconsistent. Instead of dumping waste in open areas in our communities, most citizens are forced to resort to burning waste at night or during the day, further polluting the environment.
While the responsibility to maintain a clean environment resides in the local authority, the public continues to cause excessive land pollution by throwing litter all over along the streets. Mobile recharge cards from service providers are used and just thrown away along the streets, littering the environment.
What are Econet, TelOne and Telecel doing in return to ensure the waste they generate is properly disposed? What will become of our environment if everyone neglects their key responsibilities of playing their part?
There is now serious debate and talk on climate change issues. These are largely man-made disasters, which could be greatly minimised if all citizens think about their environment before they litter!
