Ultimatum for Masvingo City Council
REGIS CHINGAWO IN MASVINGO
Residents have given Masvingo City Council a 48 hour ultimatum to fix the water pollution in Mucheke and Shakashe rivers or face legal action, Business Times can report.
The ultimatum follows the death of fish and other marine bodies after the local authority discharged raw sewer into the two rivers which are tributaries to Lake Mutirikwi which supplies the city with water.
In a letter written to the local authority by Masvingo Residents Forum lawyer Martin Mureri, residents say despite giving council an initial 10 days to rectify the pollution problem, the situation has not improved.
Below is their letter:
“We acknowledge receipt of your letter to our client dated 26 May 2022. In your letter you acknowledged discharge of raw sewer into Mucheke and Shakashe rivers but you were quick to state that it was or is a result of a blocked sewer main line in Mucheke A and Rujeko B due to vandalism. You also stated that was a pump breakdown at Rujeko pump station.
As a solution to the problem you made an undertaking that your engineers were conducting repairs of the pumps and that very soon you were going to pump the raw sewer into the treatment pump.
Suprisingly it is now 10 days and nothing has been done to solve this problem. It seems you are reluctant to fix the problem. Our client has instructed us to demand as we do hereby that you fix this problem within 48 hours of this letter failure of which we will proceed with legal action without notice to you.”
Two weeks ago council acknowledged that raw sewer spilled into Mucheke and Shakashe rivers and said that it had sent samples to a Harare laboratory for investigations.
There was an outcry from residents and environmental lobby groups in Masvingo following the deaths of fish and aqua life. The death of fish highlighted the ignored plight of aquatic life in the country’s natural water sources as a result of human action. Environmental Management Agency slapped Masvingo City Council and Delta Beverages with level 14 (ZWL$ 500 000) and 13 (ZWL$ 300 000) fine tickets respectively.
