By Wisdom Mumera.
A Turkish humanitarian organisation Turkiye Diyanet Vakfi (TDV) has undertook to alleviate the acute water shortages in the country whilst averting potential heath disasters by installing boreholes in various strategic sites around the country.
The country is currently facing a potential health disaster due to unclean water pumped by the council especially in Harare, whilst other towns are facing acute water shortages threatening an explosion of cholera and other attendant diseases.
Cholera cases have already been recorded in Chiredzi with fears of a nationwide outbreak.
Currently the organisation, whose works are being coordinated by the Islamic Information Bureau Trust (MIBT) has installed boreholes at Jumbo Mine in Mazowe, for Mashonaland East in Marondera and at two Muslim church sites in Chinhoyi expected to cater for over 20 000 individuals.
TDV members celebrate with MIBT CEO Mr Wadi and the community in Chinhoyi
Chief Executive Officer of MIBT Adam Yidi Wadi said though Muslim in origin the organisation was focusing on assisting the surrounding communities in which those boreholes had been installed.
“These are not boreholes for Muslims but for the whole community which we know are facing water challenges.”
Jumbo Mine residents in Mazowe wait to get water from a borehole installed by TDV
Africa Specialist for TDV Selgcuk Ozturk concurred and said their mission is to help the afflicted communities some of whom have been travelling over 2 kilometres to find water.
“The people funding these initiatives simply need to assist the people here having challenges not just Muslims but the whole communities.
“We hope that for the next 10-15 years they will still continue to be functional with people getting water from them,” he added.
Various councils suffering under the current economic rut have been struggling to provide clean and safe water to residents around the country leading to the pumping of unclean water or downright absence of water in some areas.
Some areas have gone for over a decade without water whilst Harare residents were recently warned by the Mayor Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni to drink tape water at their own peril.
However in the aftermath of sewerage contaminating most boreholes council now requires that all boreholes have tanks in which the water is first chlorinated before being pumped out.
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