A hairdresser at Rezende Parkade Mall, Stephanie Mangwiro, complained that water disruptions were very costly. She said they had to buy buckets for storing water to avoid affections of water-borne diseases as the hair salon is always packed with clients.
“We have to buy buckets so we can store water for use tomorrow (today) since our line of business needs lots of water to be fully functional,” said Mangwiro. “This is a setback as we need money to buy the buckets.”
Small hotels and lodges were also seriously affected by the water disconnection as they do not have boreholes. However, established hotels did not feel much of the pinch.
The most affected were people who use ablution facilities in public areas such as Mbare Musika, Mupedzanhamo, Fourth and Market Square bus terminuses as well as entertainment joints in most parts of the city.
Harare residents yesterday criticised the city authorities for giving them a short notice saying they only read it in the newspapers yesterday after water had already been cut in most suburbs. They said they did not find time to store the water in containers.
There are fears that prolonged water cuts could result in an outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery.Harare was recently grip-ped with a serious typhoid outbreak that saw more than 1 000 people being infected.
