Citizens of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, dissatisfied with the performance of the existing Bulawayo Residents Association, which they say has a pro-government bias, have formed Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association.
Organization coordinator Roderick Fayayo said the new group was launched on the weekend by residents unhappy with the Bulawayo Residents Association's failure to oppose the takeover of the city's water and sewage systems by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, ZINWA, under controversial legislation.
Longstanding water shortages in Bulawayo have grown worse under the management of the national authority while municipal water revenues have been diverted. The city has experienced outbreaks of diahrreal disease due to water shortages which have led some desperate residents to turn to unsafe sources of water.
Fayayo told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the new group intends to help residents regardless of their political affiliation.
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