“For now, we do not have water, and we have to buy three buckets for US$1, a local nurse revealed
John Cassim
Harare, Zimbabwe (CZ) – A health disaster is looming at Mhandamabwe Clinic in Chivi District, as it has gone for months without water.
Chivi is a district in Masvingo, nearly 300 kilometers south of the capital Harare.
Officials at the clinic confirmed having to buy water for a US$1 for three 20-litre buckets.
“It’s a matter of time before we experience a catastrophe, but for now we do not have water, and we have to buy three buckets for US$ 1.
We deal with public violence cases a lot, and injuries need to be managed. Imagine there is blood all over, but you can’t get water.
We have appealed to the local authorities, but nothing has changed,” a local nurse revealed.
Upon arrival at the clinic, it was evident that not only the clinic but the entire community was dry.
A few meters from the gate, nearly a hundred women queued up with buckets, waiting for a bouser to bring free water.
An aspiring parliamentarian pledged to deliver water for free to Mhandamabwe shops, where locals would fetch it.
On June 7, the women in the water queue indicated it had now been a week since the day the free water deliveries had started.
“We tried sinking a borehole for the clinic, but this area is so dry such that they couldn’t find water within the clinic yard,” the nurse said.
Susan, one of the young mothers in the water queue, had this to say:
“It’s been four days now since the aspiring MP started bringing free water; we don’t even know if the water is portable; all we need is to have water in our homes.
The water is delivered twice daily in the morning and evening, so I have no choice but to queue as I have a baby that requires a hygienic home,” Susan said.
An elderly woman called Mai Beauty concurred that residents in Mhandamabwe are struggling to get water.
“ZINWA is responsible for the water provision here, but they have not done so for months now. We heard the pump was broken months ago,” Mai Beauty said.
As Conservezim was interviewing the women in the water queue, two trucks stopped by with drums full of water for sale.
The drivers confirmed they were selling three 20-liter bottles of water for a US$1 and that the water source was a nearby river.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe National Water Authority’s Corporate Communication and Marketing Manager admitted Mhandamabwe had no water.
“We have a pump breakdown. We are still in the process of procuring the pump,” she responded.
Zimbabwe is currently battling a cholera outbreak that has also affected regional countries like Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa; hence, the failure by ZINWA to provide water to Mhandamabwe is a disaster in waiting, locals complained.