PHI residents have had ‘no water for years’

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:01:45 +0000

By KALOBWE BWALYA

SOME residents of the Presidential Housing Initiative (PHI) have not had water for many years now and have called on Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) to look into the matter and ensure that it finds a lasting solution to the water challenges the residents are facing.

According to a survey carried out by the Daily Nation, about 90 percent of PHI residents do not have access to LWSC water, hence they have opted to drill boreholes and erect water tanks which have been expensive for them.

“I have been staying here in PHI for the last three years and have had no access to water despite that the LWSC bring water bills to pay for non-service. So I am appealing to the water utility company to quickly address this challenge because putting up a water tank or drilling a borehole is very expensive.

“I spend a lot of money on fetching water like K20 per day because toilets are flushable and also for other household use which was very expensive,” said Ms Angelina Mwakotami.

Another resident, Mr Jerome Zimba, said the residents had been deprived of their right of access to water because the company had not explained or issued a statement why some households have water but others do not.   Mr Jonah Zimba wondered why part of the compound has water while others do not have water for many years. He said the water utility company has failed to find a solution to the water problem in the area.

“The water shortage is risking the health of residents because going for many years without water is a health hazard for it can lead to an outbreak of diseases. But I wonder why police houses have water throughout, even after the Ben Mwiinga area, but here near Pick ‘n Pay there has been no water for some years,” he said.

He said the area was no longer suitable as a residential compound because water was a great challenge coupled with expensive rentals for those who had put water tanks on their houses.

The residents complained that the water shortage was making the lives of residents difficult because they were forced to move long distances to go and fetch water.

“It is unfortunate that people are still having water challenges in this era where diseases are breaking out on a daily basis and people are being forced to walk long distances to look for water.

“We need water as residents and we are appealing to Lusaka Water to look into the issue so that we can have running and safe drinking water as residents,” one of them said.