The main water treatment plant in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, has been closed down because of a shortage of foreign currency, local officials say.
Deputy Mayor Enock Mupamawonde has described the situation as devastating and appealed to the government to make enough foreign currency available so that chemicals can be purchased for the treatment plant.
The state-run media is blaming the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party for the shutdown as it runs the city council.
There are reports of increased cases of diarrhoea in Harare and there are fears that the consumption of untreated water could lead to further outbreaks of cholera or typhoid.
Last year, because of burst sewers and an inadequate water supply, 26 people died in what was the country’s worst cholera outbreak in a decade.
-BBC
