CommuTalk Reporter
GWERU: One of Zimbabwe’s biggest prisons, Whawha Prison has gone for more than two weeks without water a situation that has raised health-related fears amongst the community housed in the complex, inmates included.
The fault which emerged owing to failed pumps at White Waters is ‘being rectified’ according to Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services Midlands Acting Provincial Spokesperson Nevson Tagarira.
Referring to the challenge as ‘small’ Tagarira added that they however have a borehole to serve the community under health risk.
“The water issue at Whawha Complex has a small challenge after White Waters failed to provide clean water, but as Whawha we do have a borehole that provides clean water to inmates and the community. To meet the demand, we fetch water from the nearby dam, but is for cleaning purposes only.”
“We have also engaged the Airforce of Zimbabwe who are providing water twice a week, thereby making sure that clean water is provided at the complex,” he further said.
The City of Gweru which is in charge of White Waters waterworks said they have not received a complaint from the prison but confirmed that the water processing station was down due to pump failure.
“We have not received any complaints from Whawha concerning the fault but if they are under White Waters supply, we are indeed in charge of providing them water.
“It is unfortunate however that our White Waters station experienced a breakdown and spares have already been acquired. We expect the station to be working normally by end of the week,” said City of Gweru spokesperson, Vimbai Chingwaramusee.
A source who chose to remain anonymous told CommuTalk confirmed the community’s fears of contracting the disease.
“We last had clean water almost three weeks ago. We were told that the water pumps at White Waters dam, which is our main source, broke down. Our main worry now is diarrhoea,” the source said.
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