CIVIC Society organisations (CSOs) in Bulawayo will tomorrow lead residents in a protest against prepaid water meters, which the local authority is on the verge of installing.
BATANAI MUTASA OWN CORRESPONDENT
Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has moved to introduce prepaid water meters with the pilot project earmarked for Cowdray Park, before rolling them out to the rest of the city.
However, the local authority is facing resistance from residents and CSOs.
In a press statement yesterday, Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association (BPRA) said the march would be held in the central business district from 10am, beginning at Basch Street Terminus, popularly known as Egodini, before proceeding to the Large City Hall, where a petition would be handed over to local authority officials.
“In June, the CSOs successfully held a march in Cowdray Park, with over 500 residents taking to the streets calling on council to rescind its decision to install prepaid water meters,” reads the statement.
“Based on research on what happened after introduction of prepaid water meters in many parts of Africa, the participating organisations’ position is that prepaid water meters are not suitable as a water management system in Zimbabwe.”
BPRA said studies had been conducted in Madlebe in KwaZulu Natal, where the meters led to water shortages leading to cholera and deaths, seriously undermining residents’ right to water in many poor communities.
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The organisation said it feared similar problems in Zimbabwe if water meters were introduced.
“Prepaid water meters also lead to social disintegration and regression of women’s gains in gender equality,” BPRA continued.
Organisations that are participating in the anti-prepaid water meter campaign include BPRA, the Public Policy Research Institute of Zimbabwe, Radio Dialogue, Bulawayo Agenda, the National Youth Development Trust, the Women’s Institute of Leadership Development, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, Ibhetshu LikaZulu, the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Enterprises, Victory Siyanqoba, Women of Zimbabwe Arise, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, Intsha.com and Christian Legal Society, among others.
