Chimwemwe residents in water blues

—— Residents of Chimwemwe area in Chipata district have continued experiencing critical water shortage for four months now.

The residence said the persistence of water problem in the area has brought misery among residents considering that water is life.

The residents who stormed ZANIS offices said although Eastern Water and Sewerage Company (EWSC) has  drilled two boreholes in the area to cushion  the problem, the boreholes were not enough to cater for the population in the area.

Jane Mwape said the putting up of the hand pumps by the company is evident enough that the problem might not be solved anytime soon.

And Martin Phiri noted that the population in Chimwemwe supersedes the number of water points resulting in the people starting to fetch water as early as 05:00 hours in the morning up to 21:00 hours.

Mr Phiri stated that queues are long every day because the catchment area of the township is big.

The community complains that queues at the water pumps are always long which forces people to ration the water in their homes.

“We are not even able to wash our blankets and we only wash a few clothing because of the water blues experienced in the area,” one resident said.

And EWSC has acknowledged the water problem saying the upper side of Chimwemwe is still experiencing water problem.

Company Public Relations Officer, Henry Kashoki explained that the company will increase capacity at Lutembwe dam one to start supplying customers in upper Chimwemwe.

Mr Kashoki said areas like DK, Hollywood and Katopola will be diverted from dam one to two so that water supply ends at Kapata market to avert the water problem in Chimwemwe.

He stated that the company has already engaged Mr Isoni Simbeye as a consultant which has helped improve water supply in areas such as St Annes, Mpezeni and at houses around Kapata Hospital.

“Mr Simbeye started working on the treatment plant to improve on capacity which has seen water in areas such as Kalongwezi and part of Kapata location as an emergency intervention,” he added.

Mr Kashoki stated that the company also uses waterbulzars to supply water in Chimwemwe from morning to evening to cushion the water problem.

He further disclosed that the Zambian and German governments have entered into partnership to improve on water reticulation in Eastern province.