THE water, sanitation and hygiene situation in Zimbabwe needs to be declared a state of emergency while there is need for a sole supplementary budget allocation towards WASH, a parliamentarian said last week.
By Kudakwashe Pembere
This was a motion was raised by MDC-Alliance Member of Parliament for Warren Park Shakespear Hamauswa last week in Parliament.
Now therefore, this House resolves to urgently request for a supplementary budget from Ministry of Finance and Economic Development which will be devoted solely for water and sanitation in the year 2022, in view of the need to maintain hygienic standards especially during the COVID-19 global epidemic,” said the Warren Park legislator.
The Parliamentarian also bemoaned how women and girls are being abused at borehole sites.
“ACKNOWLEDGING the inalienability of the human right to water to the right to life, health and clean environment’
“MAINTAINING that the incessant erratic water supplies within both rural and urban local authorities in Zimbabwe remains a recipe for disaster especially in the context of COVID-19 global pandemic;
“WORRIED that the water crisis in Zimbabwe has birthed gender based violence at or near public boreholes, outbreak of water-borne diseases and deaths, I propose the following Mr. Speaker;- an urgent call for supplementary budget devoted solely to water and sanitation in the year 2022 especially considering the need for maintaining hygiene standards during the COVID-19 global pandemic. This has to be complemented by a 2023 budget that mainly speaks to water and sanitation. This budget should address pipe replacement, construction of alternative water sources and treatment plants, rehabilitation of both sewer and water treatment works,” he said.
He also said the water crisis needed to be declared a state of emergency.
“The boreholes that we are seeing in urban areas are those bush pumps and in this era, we cannot continue to expect the people of Harare, Gweru or Bulawayo to use bush pumps. We call upon the relevant Ministries to declare water as a state of emergency the same way the state of our roads was declared a state of emergency so that we bring in development partners to resolve this problem of water, not only in Harare. As I said, we are also talking of rural areas, we are talking of farming communities. I have been to various farming communities.
“Madam Speaker, dams need to be scooped. You are a farmer also, you understand this that the dams that are there need support from the Government, from the Treasury to make sure that besides coming up with extra water reservoirs but the existing ones need to be recouped so that we also address the issue of siltation,” said Hon. Hamauswa.
Dzivarasekwa MP Hon. Edwin Mushoriwa said if the Zambezi Water project was implemented, Matebeleland North region would benefit.
“It is also a fact that for a long time, we have heard and we have been told about the Zambezi Water Project so that Bulawayo and other areas along the Matabeleland North corridor will benefit but these things have continued being said on paper without being implemented,” he said.