By A Correspondent- Bulawayo residents have lamented the council’s delays in responding to  burst sewerage in their communities saying this could contribute to disease outbreaks.

The city has recorded a series of sewer pipe bursts, which has seen raw effluent flowing into their homes.

Speaking during a Ward 17 meeting in Pumula North yesterday, residents said apart from sewer pipe bursts, the council also delayed in attending to burst water pipes, which sometimes leaves them without water for days.

The meeting was organised by the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association and was attended by council officials and area councillor Ms Sikhululekile Moyo.

The meeting’s agenda was to brief the community on council budget processes as most of them had not participated in its online consultation processes.

One of the residents said she had been living with a burst sewer for three  months despite reporting the burst pipe to council.

“I reported this issue three months ago  to have raw sewage flowing from your  home on a daily basis with no action being taken.
“We don’t know whether the council’s offices are still functional. Where should we report now?” asked the resident, who did not reveal her identity.

Another resident said council was also not attending to burst water pipes and as a result he had dug a small well in his yard to harvest the water.

“Whenever there is water shedding, some residents even come to my house to fetch water from the well.

“The council is losing a lot of treated water due to its failure to timeously respond to burst pipes,” said the resident.

The residents said council should channel ward retention funds towards fixing burst water pipes.

Some residents complained that the council keeps increasing rates yet service delivery was not improving.
This was in response to the city’s proposed 2022 budget which will see rates increasing by 200 percent.

In response to their concerns, Cllr Moyo said the local authority was resource constrained to effectively attend to some of their concerns.

“As council we don’t have enough money to attend to some of the challenges that are obtaining in our communities. I understand that residents want to channel ward retention funds to fixing burst sewer and damaged water pipes but the money is too little.

“I however urge you to continue paying your bills as this will enable the council to attend to some of your challenges,” said Cllr Moyo.

She said ward retention funds can be channelled towards resuscitating soccer grounds and other recreational facilities.

Cllr Moyo said this will help youths to refrain from substance abuse and also reduce general crime in the area.

She challenged residents to also protect council infrastructure from vandals that deliberately destroy the local authority’s property.-statemedia