Pumula gets water kiosk
CANADIAN humanitarian organisation, #TheWalk, yesterday donated a 10 000-litre water kiosk to alleviate the water crisis in Pumula South, Bulawayo, where residents have endured severe water shortages.
The organisation also unveiled a fully equipped borehole, complete with solar pumping systems and solar lighting.
This was after the Bulawayo City Council called on stakeholders to introduce water kiosks where bowser water could be delivered at any time to ease water shortages.
Bulawayo city is currently experiencing its worst water shortages which have seen the council introducing a six-day watershedding schedule due to dwindling water levels at the remaining three supply dams. Three of its six supply dams have since been decommissioned.
In a statement yesterday, #TheWalk spokesperson Thabo Siziba said the unveiling of the water kiosk in Pumula South was being done in collaboration with the local authority.
“#TheWalik is unveiling the usage of the newly-constructed kiosk, which houses a 10 000-litre Jojo tank, a fully equipped borehole, complete with solar pumping systems and solar lighting for night vision. The kiosk was the organisation’s response to the ongoing council programme that has seen at least 25 locations identified for planned kiosks around the city (all seeking donor funding),” Siziba said.
“Over 400 households are expected to benefit from our Pumula South kiosk. The estimated cost of constructing the site to completion, including all solar installations, was $680 000 (US$8 500). #TheWalk, being an international member-based organisation was able to call on its membership across the globe to come together to raise this money,” Siziba said.
“We are proud to say that our membership as well as the general public that visited our fundraising platforms which included GoFundMe and Paypal saw the need and were able to donate enough money for us to meet our needs for the Pumula South kiosk.”
Council deputy engineer Sikhumbuzo Ncube said the decision to open up the market to private players was necessitated by the unsustainable cost of hiring bowsers for water delivery.
“The city has six bowsers; we have got the programme, we follow that programme, we try to stick to that programme,” Ncube said.
“So for the month of July we had 858 deliveries done, but on average we are doing around 25-28 deliveries against the demand of 50-60 deliveries, so there is a huge shortfall of almost 50%. Already we have a gap of 25 deliveries and in terms of litres of deliveries that is a shortfall of almost two million which is two mega-litres of water, so that shortage is what is causing the issues to do with blockages of the sewer.”