Consumers in Tete grow weary of ‘water restrictions’ – Mozambique

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Consumers in Tete grow weary of ‘water restrictions’ – Mozambique

1:38 CAT | 29 Aug 2017

Consumers suffering water supply restrictions since last Thursday in Tete are being driven to use water sources which are unfit for human consumption or resort to the Zambezi River and risk life and limb from crocodile attacks.

Consumers interviewed by the “Diário de Moçambique” in the Francisco Manyanga and Mateus Sansão Mutemba neighbourhoods yesterday said they were fully aware that water supply corporation FIPAG had issued a statement warning that there would be restrictions on water supply from Thursday to 2:00 p.m. on Friday, but by Sunday their taps had still to shed even a single drop of drinking water.

Also Read: Restrictions on Greater Maputo water supply to continue

Maria Joaquim said that it was painful for FIPAG consumers, because water did not reach their homes and they were obliged to go off in search of other sources of supply.

“At dawn, we have to consult on where, in which house there is water. People of good faith let their neighbours collect water there, but these restrictions can make us angry,” she said.

FIPAG consumer João Luís told our reporter that “residents have turned their back on the water supply company because it never fails to distribute invoices with high prices, but without water coming out of their taps. And when it does, it’s only for a few hours and then with hardly any pressure. There is great concern because everything we do depends on water, which FIPAG does not provide, because the restrictions never end here”.

Also Read: More than 60,000 without water in Beira and Dondo – Mozambique

The Diário de Moçambique also interviewed Joaquim Seda, one of the heads of ten houses in the Mateus Sansão Mutemba neighbourhood. “We are paying for water but the water has not been coming out for three months – almost four now, so we are very worried because we are paying FIPAG bills but not drinking FIPAG water,” he said.

Seda says residents had met to discuss the issue and concluded that they should collect the invoices and return them to FIPAG until the company is able to provide water to residents.

“We are drinking the water from the stream down there, but not of our own free will. It is because when we complain, FIPAG says to wait, claiming that the problem is the pump, but the bills are coming every month and, despite their promises, the problem is not being solved,” Seda notes.

Seda said that people preferred the streams because the crocodiles on the Zambezi river do not miss a single opportunity to strike. “Last Sunday a person was fatally injured by a crocodile –a young man who was going to get water,” he revealed, saddened by the loss of yet another human life.

Also Read: Two children attacked by crocodiles in northern Mozambique

Fernando Vicente, another member of the public approached by the paper and also head of ten houses in the 14th block in the Chimadzi area, went still further, claiming that the problem had been dragging on for three years, with FIPAG saying they were going to solve it but never actually doing so.

“What is even worse is that the invoices appear constantly without them providing us with water, which is why we are worried because this is not a recent problem.”

“We are collecting the bills and thinking of going to the Mateus Sansão Mutemba neighbourhood secretary and then talking to the manager of FIPAG because the population is getting its water from the stream. They say that people cannot draw water from the stream because it causes cholera, but we have no alternative because on the Zambezi river the crocodiles never stop attacking people. I appeal to FIPAG to provide us with water,” Vicente said.

Diário de Moçambique contacted FIPAG Tete spokesperson Manuel Tica, who said that the restrictions were implemented from Thursday to Friday to allow the clearing of mud from pipes and tanks.

“There was excessive mud, so we decided to do the cleaning and issued a statement to that effect. At this point, we are resuming the filling of the reservoirs,” he explained.

On a hopeful note, senior FIPAG official Geraldinho Canote said: “Chimadzi’s problem’s days are numbered. We are already testing the water supply.”

Also Read: Tete police stop search for football player killed in crocodile attack

Source: Diário Moçambique