KWEKWE council workers have stopped attending to sewerage blockages reported during weekends after council stopped paying them for overtime. BLESSED MHLANGA STAFF REPORTER
Residents have now been forced to stay in sewer infested homes over weekends following the move by council to save money.
Former councillor Queenly Chitopo was forced to abandon her home last weekend after learning that a sewer backflow which had clogged her house on Friday, would only be attended to on Monday.
“I was told that sewer choke gangs are no longer on standby and as a result they don’t attend sewer blockages at night or over the weekend which meant the whole weekend I had to live with sewer in my house,” she said.
The local authority, which still owes most of its workers outstanding overtime allowances for last year, has stopped its workers from working overtime.
The development has caused an outcry from most residents in the high-density suburbs.
Councillor Kandros Lawe during a full council meeting in March, raised concern over the issue saying the local authority needed to revisit its decision to cancel overtime in critical departments like sewer and water.
“Lawe expressed concern that employees in the above section, do not attend to burst pipe problems reported during the weekend as council has stopped paying them overtime. He added that a health hazard was now looming in the city as residents have to survive with sewer burst pipes over the weekend,” reads minutes of the meeting.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Engineer John Mhike said following an outcry from residents, council has now put in place a team which will be on standby during weekends.
“We have a trained gang which uses vacuum tankers to clear sewerage blockages. We are still monitoring this new move to see if it will be adequate for the needs of the city,” he said.
