mbulelo smpofu
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, smoyo@chronicle.co.zw
IN the wake of rampant vandalism and theft of water infrastructure, Bulawayo City Council (BCC) says it will require about 600 security guards to adequately provide security at the Nyamandlovu Aquifer borehole sites.
Only five security personnel are said to be deployed on site despite rampant vandalism and theft that has left only 25 out of 77 Nyamandlovu boreholes operational.
With Government continuously pumping funds to repair the boreholes, only to be vandalised within a short space of time by criminal elements, the need to tighten security has become topical with experts suggesting the deployment of technology such as drones.
A combination of theft, vandalism and unplanned power outages have been blamed for worsening the water supply challenge across the city, forcing residents to go for weeks without water as some resort to unprotected sources.
Responding to an enquiry by councillors on whether the local authority was deploying security guards at Nyamandlovu Aquifer to tackle vandalism head-on, town clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, said concerted efforts were needed to address the challenge.
This was after Deputy Mayor, Councillor Edwin Ndlovu, questioned how vandalism was taking place in the presence of council security guards. He further argued that the council, as a beneficiary, should take measures to increase the security of the boreholes and any other equipment.
In response, Mr Dube said boreholes should have new water pumping technology and that all the stakeholders — the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa), Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) and BCC — should provide security.
“If council was to guard the whole of Nyamandlovu, 600 guards would be required, which was beyond council’s financial capacity,” said Mr Dube, quoted in the latest council minutes issued yesterday.
The city’s chamber secretary, Mrs Sikhangele Zhou, weighed in saying at the moment there were only five council security guards and one supervisor who could not guard all the 77 boreholes.
“Zinwa and Zesa are expected to add on to security to safeguard the pumps and transformers at the aquifer. The infrastructure at the aquifer belongs to Zinwa and council was complementing Zinwa security,” she said.
“Farmers benefiting from the boreholes were requested to provide security on a voluntary basis. Out of the 77 boreholes, only 25 were operational and BCC guards were only stationed at five posts of the operational boreholes,” said Mrs Zhou.
Zinwa officials requested to have questions in writing on the matter and had not responded by the time of going to print. At some point, Government hinted at proposals to deploy uniformed forces to beef up security at the boreholes.
Water and sanitation director, Engineer Sikhumbuzo Ncube, said the average daily delivery from Nyamandlovu boreholes was 8,6 megalitres per day and pumping had continued to fluctuate due to several factors such as electricity outages, cable theft and breakdowns.
This is against a target of close to 20 megalitres capacity, which would go a long way to ease the city water supply burden.
Eng Ncube said Bulawayo was grappling with significant challenges related to pipeline maintenance and leak management, issues which stemmed primarily from two critical factors – lack of operational vehicles for pipeline inspectors and delays in material procurement and resource mobilisation.
The pipeline inspector’s inability to access an operational vehicle severely hampered timely inspections and repairs.
The lack of mobility restricted the inspector’s ability to promptly identify and address leaks, which could lead to environmental hazards and increased operational costs.
“Material procurement delays had emerged as a significant bottleneck in the repair process. The time taken to source necessary materials affected the overall timeline for remedial repairs, resulting in a backlog of unresolved pipeline issues,” said Eng Ncube.
“This situation was compounded by complex supply chain dynamics and regulatory challenges that often prolonged procurement processes.”
In August this year, Eng Ncube said the council was considering tapping into aquifers in Nkulumane and Nketa suburbs as well as Hope Fountain on the outskirts of the city with a feasibility study having already commenced to determine the viability of the suburban option as part of a short to medium term options. The three sites are considered to have huge underground water reserves.
