Residents of Sentosa who are enduring water woes can expect an improvement in supplies following the repairs carried out at Morton Jaffray Waterworks meant to improve pumping pressure.
Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter
Ward 17 Councillor Happymore Gotora said Sentosa residents were not receiving council tap water because of low pumping pressure at Morton Jaffray Waterworks. Sentosa is now under Ward 17 following the new ward and constituency boundaries which came into effect following the August 23 harmonised presidential, parliamentary and council elections.
“As council we are working on that.
“So we have engaged a company called Nanotech which is working on improving water pumping pressure at Morton Jaffray Waterworks and very soon, I want to assure the residents that they will be getting water because pressure will be increasing,” Cllr Gotora told Suburban on the sidelines of the swearing in ceremony of new councillors at Town House last Thursday.
Some parts of Sentosa have gone for several years without council tap water while residents from Ruth Close and Trafalgar Avenue who used to get water twice a week last week complained of going for three weeks without supplies.
On refuse collection, Clr Gotora said he will monitor efficiency of collections.
“I will advocate and continue to push for consistent and efficient refuse collection,” he said.
Clr Gotora said council will also deal with corrupt council refuse collectors who are reportedly picking rubbish from private refuse collectors instead of collecting garbage from households in the suburb.
The private refuse collectors pay the council waste collectors to use council refuse compactors to transport their garbage to Pomona dump site because the private companies do not want to pay dumping fees at Pomona.
The private companies are charged US$40 per tonne to dump their garbage at Pomona. Some Harare residents have resorted to hiring private refuse collectors because the City of Harare’s service is unreliable.
“I also want to encourage residents that when they see such kind of people or workers doing such kind of malpractices, they should alert us.
“They must take the number plate of the vehicle and then they should alert us so that we can deal with them decisively,” he said.
Clr Gotora also spoke about the problem of illegal settlements in Sentosa
“The issue of squatters is a very big problem in Ward 17. Normally it’s the Social Welfare Department that must be dealt with them because it’s a humanitarian issue. But we have tried to work with the Ministry to see how that issue can be resolved because at international law, you are not supposed to displace someone without giving them an alternative place to reside.
So I will try to engage the Ministry so that we can be able to see how best we can deal with the issue of squatters as they are causing a danger to residents.
They also becoming a cause for concern especially during the night and sometimes they also become a source for diseases (outbreaks) as they go messing around the area which they temporarily stay.”
Last week, a woman was mugged while walking along Ridgeview Drive. Her handbag was recovered behind the Veritas precast security wall although her cash, mobile phone and particulars were stolen.
Some Sentosa residents complained last month that illegal settlers in the suburb were responsible for damaging the water pipes in the area further worsening the pressure problems.
Residents appealed for the removal of the settlers because they were always tampering with the water pipes and could be behind the crimes being reported in the suburb.
