Harare considers adopting MSF water, waste managem...

Harare considers adopting MSF water, waste management model

The Morton Jaffray Waterworks during renovations

Zim Now Writer

The Harare City Council is considering adopting the new water and waste management model introduced in the city by Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Implemented in the suburbs of Mbare and Southlea Park recently, the project has proven to be an effective way of providing clean and safe drinking water to residents, as well as proper waste collection methods.

Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume, while speaking during an MSF environmental health seminar last Thursday, said the City was keen to adopt the model.

“We applaud efforts by MSF in the Mbare and Stoneridge projects which to date have enabled the construction of 72 water points helping to ease water challenges in the city. We are looking forward to develop a pro-poor water supply system in the near future,” he said.

Hitherto cholera hotspots owing to the population in the two areas, the MSF intervention helped lessen chances of water-borne diseases.

The mayor moaned the depletion of the City’s water reserves as well as costs of water treatment chemicals, adding: “The last dam for Harare, Darwendale Dam, was built in 1976 to service a population of 500 000 people and now the population is creeping to four million people.

“We need to build a water source for Harare. We have tried to improve Morton Jaffray (Waterworks) with Chinese funding, but we still face challenges of chemicals. We only have museum pieces (old and outdated equipment) in the name of chemical plants.”

Started in 2015, the MSF environmental health project has provided cutting-edge solutions in the field of groundwater, mitigating environmental degradation and climate change through solid and bio-waste management and recycling.

The project also focused on developing communities’ resilience through communities’ empowerment and engagement capacity building of WASH (water and sanitation) sectors and overally, prevention of communicable diseases.