LOCAL authorities have been accused of violating people’s environmental rights with raw sewage and effluent being discharged into rivers, resulting in residents consuming unsafe water.
BY VENERANDA LANGA This was revealed in a baseline survey on perceptions, attitudes and understanding of human rights in Zimbabwe which was recently released by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, which looked at human rights violations during the year 2013.
“Local authorities have not been taking environmental issues seriously to the extent that throughout Zimbabwe, there is discharge of raw sewage and effluent in the river bodies as a result of inability by local authorities to treat sewage,” the report said.
“This affects peri-urban and downstream communities who no longer have access to clean and safe drinking water.
This was one of the findings the baseline study established in the Midlands where the communities in Lower Gweru are drinking and watering their home gardens with water drawn from the Gweru River that is heavily polluted by effluent discharge from Gweru urban areas.”
The report further said: “In Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, the water is very dirty and not safe for human consumption. Due to water shortages in this province, the city council introduced water-shedding.
“It was highlighted by respondents in both rural and urban areas that they did not have access to clean and safe water.
This has resulted in people, particularly children, suffering from water borne diseases.”
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The report said construction of houses on wetlands was a human rights violation as most of the structures end up being demolished.
“Generally, throughout the provinces, the right to water is compromised because they do not have access to clean and safe water.
In Hopley and Stoneridge suburbs in the Waterfalls district (Harare), the residents fetch water from the Hunyani River which is already contaminated from the industries in Msasa and sewage discharged from Chitungwiza town,” the reports said.
In Sunningdale, the report said there was serious water-shedding imposed by the Harare City Council where tap water was accessible only three days per week.
At Arda Transau in Manicaland, the report said residents were required to pay $5 per month to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority for the provision of water as water from Odzi River was polluted.
Respondents in both rural and urban areas said they did not have access to clean and safe water.
