Water becomes critical issue in Zimbabwe poll
A Zimbabwean rates amnesty of $600-million (R8.1-billion) in 2013 still haunts the functioning of cities and towns.
The pardon was ordered in the run-up to the 2013 election by President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF. Cities and major towns remain hamstrung by scant revenue inflows and decaying infrastructure. This has resulted in water shortages and a health crisis and has hobbled industry in ramping up production. With no money to upgrade and extend urgently required infrastructure, major urban centres are buckling under the weight of either water-borne diseases or a struggle to supply running water. Harare has an outbreak of typhoid and in Bulawayo the city's water infrastructure has been unable to cope with the population growth. Bulawayo, once considered the country's industrial hub,implemented a 72-hour water cut late last year in an attempt to manage its limited supplies. The water cut was suspended in the new year following good rains. These infrastructure problems are curtailing efforts by industry to revive operations, attract foreign investment and get the wheels of the economy turnin...
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