By Reagan Malumo
KATIMA MULILO
Thousands of angry residents of Chotto informal settlement last week descended on the offices of the Katima Mulilo Town Council, demanding it reduces water tariffs.
Council says it charges five cents for a litre of water, a fact that is fiercely disputed by residents who say council charges them more because it normally deducts sewerage and other fees.
The angry crowd threatened to break through the fence in an attempt to wreak havoc and had to be restrained by the police.
At the time of the ruckus, the chief executive officer Vincent Sazita was strangely not in his office, possibly sensing danger.
One of the demonstrators who preferred to remain anonymous cited a communication breakdown between the town council and Chotto residents to be the cause of the tension with residents.
He alluded to the fact that residents of Chotto were shocked to discover that the town council was busy erecting electronically controlled water taps in the suburb, which can only be accessed via an electronic card without informing the residents.
And this left them with no option but to purchase the electronic cards in order to have uninterrupted access to water.
When they tried to buy the new cards, the majority of people went home empty handed because council said the cards got finished and that they should wait for other stock. This made the people furious and eventually provoked them into vandalizing some underground water networks leading to their suburb. Council retaliated and penalized all residents by closing the entire water supply to the suburb.
The lack of water supply to the suburb went on for almost a week but after last week’s protest council reluctantly restored water.
Though the water was restored, tempers remain high because residents are still grumbling about the prices that they say are exorbitant.
The argument being advanced by residents is that water should not be so expensive because the Zambezi River is nearby.