By Correspondent
Government has decided to privatise water supply for urban areas starting with Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.
This was revealed by Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe who was addressing members of the media.
“We were given greenlight to privatise and are now in the process of inviting the private sector players, both local and international, to bring proposals of interest,” he said.
Garwe said they are looking for companies that have capacity to engineer, procure, construct, manage and finance.
“So far, we have received five (bids).
“Three from international players and two from local players.
“It’s work in progress and we are hoping by the end of next week, we will have interviewed them and identified the suitable candidates.
”He said their target is that by the end of this month they should have completed the process for Harare.
“We are not looking at a segmented approach, like what used to happen before.
“But we are looking at an investor who comes and covers the whole value chain.
“From purification, distribution, billing and watering.
“We want to move away from the old meter system to a digital, smart water metering system.
“The priority areas are Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls, since it is our capital city for tourism.
Opposition To Privatisation
”However, various organisations, such as Zimcodd, are on record being against such a move.
“The human right to water has been recognized in the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
“Prepaid water meters abuse the core of this international treaty by denying access to clean water to those in most need,” it says.
The Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) has also urged government to stop installing prepaid water meters.
It alleges that they discriminate against the poor in certain communities.
However, government and Harare Council have been supporters of the idea for a long time.
Five years ago Harare city council actually set aside $12 million for the water meters after undertaking a pilot study in some parts of the city.
The pre-paid water system involves a billing system where consumers pay for the service upfront.
This is done using a gadget that is specially designed with a smart card technology.
