Illegal connections cost Chitungwiza

CHITUNGWIZA Municipality is battling illegal water and sewerage connections that have resulted in the local authority losing 45 percent of non-revenue water, it has emerged.

The illegal connections have seen council going through rough patches as it struggles to fix sewer and water pipes.

This has forced the local authority to offer amnesty through a statement by Acting Town Clerk Ms Charity Maunga.

“The Chitungwiza Municipality is offering amnesty to illegally connected consumers (water and sewer). Illegally connected consumers should visit the municipality headquarters (department of works) to regularise their connections. The amnesty ends on November 30 and after which the municipality will fine all offenders identified,” reads the statement.

Mrs Maunga said illegal connections were being identified in all parts of the town.

“There are various causes of non-revenue water losses and one of these is the illegal water connec-

tions,” said Mrs Maunga.

“We are getting water rationing from Harare and we have not been able to pay what they expect us to per month. We want all who illegally connected themselves to come forth because we have identified some of these. Residents also come to our offices complaining, thereby giving us room to identify

these illegal connections.

“We really need to give those residents who are paying the service they deserve, they need clean potable water.”

She said council was in the process of finding solutions to such problems.

“We are trying to capacitate our development control section

so that each district will deal with such issues at district level because most of these things are being handled at town house level.

“This is so, because we do not have any officers for development control in the districts. We are trying to decentralise some of those functions such that we can be able to here and action quickly.”