Thu, 22 Dec 2016 10:59:26 +0000
By KELVIN SIABANA
THE Green Party has expressed worry over the decision by Nkana Water and Sewerage Company to cut off domestic water supply in some parts of Kitwe and Kalulushi due to alleged sulphate contamination of the water in the Kafue River two weeks ago.
Party president Peter Sinkamba said since then Government has failed to pinpoint which of the seven mining companies licensed by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) to discharge waste water in the Kafue River was responsible for the calamity.
Mr Sinkamba said the nation was informed that Government had dispatched a team of inspectors from ZEMA and Water Resources Management Authority to investigate the incident and that findings of the investigation was supposed to be released last week on Monday but a week has elapsed without the findings being released.
The opposition leader claimed that failure by Government to release findings on the pollution incident was a clear indication that it lacked capacity to guarantee quality water in Zambia.
He said the lack of adequate answers about the problem not only revealed the vulnerability of the masses to toxic waste exposure through surface and underground water systems, but also a clear indication that the Government lacked capacity to timely monitor toxic waste water exposure.
“As the Green Party, we think it is high time that Government started copying some of our green policies and strategies to improve service provision in Zambia,” said Mr Sinkamba.
He said the Government should consider copying policy of the Green Party on real-time water quality monitoring systems for all surface and underground water systems in the country.
“Our proposed system of using innovative real-time monitoring approaches facilitates continuous and immediate water-quality information available in real-time as the in-stream measurements could be used as surrogates for many elements and other constituents in water including, sediment, indicator bacteria and nutrients and water-quality measurements made available on the web in real-time,” said Mr Sinkamba.
He told the Daily Nation that continuous real-time water-quality data was needed for decisions to be made regarding drinking water, water treatment, regulatory programmes, recreation and public safety.
Mr Sinkamba said continuous real-time information on water quality was a vital asset that helped safeguard lives and property and ensured adequate water resources for a healthy economy.
Nkana Water and Sewerage Company public relations unit could not be immediately reached for comment.
