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by Gini Ndovela
05 March 2010
Ugu District Municipality´s residents had to live without water for a week in Bhobhoyi near Port Shepstone last week. The poor and the rural people of Ward 20 who depend on public stand-pipe water taps were the most affected as they had to fetch water from the nearest Bhobhoyi river or travel to Jesus, Ward 23, for water that they desperately needed for cooking and washing.
The Murchison communities reported that they were living on water that Ugu supplied with trucks but they complained that it was not clean and that they had to boil it to kill bacteria before they could consume it. One resident commented that, "We had been without water since the beginning of the year. We give thanks for the last three days that we have seen uninterrupted water supply in the area".
Apparently the municipality had placed a public notice in the Fever notifying the community about the water cut off and promising to provide water by trucks. The residents of Bhobhoyi said that there were no trucks supplying water in the area.
The communities of the Ugu coastal towns had also reported to the Fever that life was difficult for at least three days when they had to survive without water. Ugu DM´s, Acting Senior Manager of Mayoralty and Communication, Mr Lindani Mzotho, apologised for the recurring water interruptions that consumers in Port Shepstone, Albersville, Umtentweni, Anerly, Melville, Murchison, Bhobhoyi and surrounding areas have experienced over the past week.
"The interruptions have been as result of a combination of factors such as the major burst of a pipe carrying water from Bhobhoyi purification plant to our Umzimkhulu command reservoir supplying these areas with water, as well as power interruptions. This has resulted in low reservoir levels hence the supply interruption and associated quality problems.
The municipality is doing everything possible to restore the supply situation to normal, and is imploring consumers to report any water leaks and pipe breaks to the 24 hour call centre on the number 08000 water (92837). The inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted. To assist the municipality to manage the current challenges, consumers are urged to use water sparingly". |
