Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water & Sanitation & Hygiene Nov-Dec 2017 | Page 9

NEWS in brief
It was a follow-up question to the basic one that was
posed by the Arumeru West MP, Mr Gibson Maiseyeki
(Chadema). Mr Maiseyeki had called for the government’s
strategic plan to address the water crisis in 20 out of the 27
wards in the constituency.
“Water is a huge problem in Arumeru West, although,
paradoxically, it is the source from which supplies to
Arusha city is drawn. It is disturbing that Oldonyo Sambu
and Oldonyo Sayosi villagers are compelled to use unsafe
fluoride-contaminated water.
A ministerial statement acknowledged that 65 percent of
the water supplied in Arusha is sourced from Arumeru
West water sources. Mr Jumaa Aweso, the deputy minister,
told Parliament that the government, through its Water
Sector Development Programme, intended to improve
water access in urban and rural areas by investing in
infrastructures and rehabilitating the existing ones to cover
a wider population.
He said the government had completed three projects
covering Ilkirevi, Oleigeruno and Nduruma villages.
“Six more projects in Bwawani, Likamba, Ngaramtoni,
Oloitushula, Nengung’u and Loovilukuny are at various
stages of implementation,” he said.
Around Africa
We
really
understand
how
critical
water is to the
residents and
that is why we
are frantically
trying to fix the
fault,” he said.
Watercrisis in Chiredzi
Chiredzi Residents and Rate Payers
Association chairperson Mr Jonathan Muusha rapped
council for failing to update residents on the water situation.
He said council should have dispatched water bowsers to
the town’s suburbs to mitigate the crisis.
Residents fear that if the water woes persist, Chiredzi
might be hit by an outbreak of diseases such as typhoid
and cholera. Chiredzi has since signed a Memorandum of
Agreement with the Infrastructure Development Bank of
Zimbabwe (IDBZ) to upgrade the city’s water conveyancing
system and meet rising demand caused by a population
boom.
The deputy minister said during the 2017/18 financial
year, at least Tsh3bn was allocated for Arusha District
Council to finalize implementation of water projects.
Zimbabwe
Water Crisis Hits Chiredzi
Chiredzi town has been hit by a crippling water shortage
after water conveyancing pipes at the treatment plant burst.
The shortages have resulted in the emergence of a black
market. It now costs US $1 to buy five buckets of water
in some areas. Most suburbs have been without running
water and council attributed the problem to burst pipes.
Town engineer Mr Wesly Kauma recently said all the town’s
storage tanks had been emptied to allow the damaged
pipes to be repaired.
“We have been busy trying to reconnect the water
conveyancing pipes for sometime and we ended up
draining all the water from the storage tanks because it was
impossible to fix the pipes with water inside the tanks,” he
said.
“Once the burst pipes have been repaired we expect
the water supply situation to improve, the problem is at
the pipes that draw water from the treatment plant.” Mr
Kauma said Chiredzi was perennially blighted by water
shortages caused by leakages, which required the town to
overhaul the water conveyancing systems to curb loses.
“Our team is working flat out to address this problem.
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November - December 2017
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