Harare runs completely dry
2008-12-01 18:01
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Harare - Water supplies to Zimbabwe's capital city dried up entirely on Monday for the first time, forcing hundreds of businesses to close early when toilets became unusable.
Workers crowded bus stops in the city centre by lunchtime to return home after less than half a day's work. Office workers from private sector and government buildings were seen streaming out.
"I've had calls from businesses all over, the commercial centre in town, the industrial areas, people are closing," said economist John Robertson. "Especially in the tall buildings, the toilets have blocked and people can't work like that."
No official comment was available from the state-run Zimbabwe National Water Authority.
But the Herald, the official newspaper of President Robert Mugabe's regime, quoted workers at the capital's main water works as saying that since Sunday there had been "no pumping" of water into the water reticulation system for a city of about two million.
'In real trouble'
The paper said that pumping had had to be halted because ZINWA had run out of chemicals to treat the water, which is drawn from a large dam just west of the capital, into which sewage is regularly pumped.
Most of the city's poor townships and its middle class suburbs have been stricken for months without water, leading to an epidemic of cholera that followed burst sewerage drains spewing raw effluent into streets.
The government has admitted that 425 people are known to have died since the epidemic began in early October and has since spread almost throughout the country.
This weekend, however, is the first time that the entire city has run dry.
Several hotels were forced to close, although others managed to keep supplied with water from large storage tanks.
"When we came to work this morning there was absolutely nothing," said restaurant manager Anil Chowdary. "We are keeping going with buckets of water in the toilet for flushing. But if this goes on, we are in real trouble."
Power negotiations
Critical water shortages are part of the dramatic collapse of the Zimbabwean economy and its infrastructure, after a nearly decade of oppressive rule and reckless policies by the 84-year-old Mugabe that have led to world record inflation of several quadrillion (15 digits) percent - a currency of so little value that it is being overtaken by the US dollar - and the shut-down of hospitals, schools and most other services.
Mugabe is in negotiation with his opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change, to share power in a transitional government, after the MDC and its leader won elections in March, but Mugabe refused to hand over power.
However, talks have been stalled since the power-sharing agreement was signed in September 15.
- Sapa-dpa
- SAPA