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The families are claiming that the area Government wants them to re-locate them to was not fit for human habitation. Government plans to relocate the families to the Chingwizi area in the Nuanetsi Ranch.
Dam completion is scheduled for November this year.
Masvingo provincial administrator Mr Felix Chikovo yesterday confirmed the families’ refusal to be relocated.
Mr Chikovo said Government together with the Zimbabwe Bio Energy which offered to clear land for the affected families was looking for an alternative area to resettle the families.
“The families who have to be moved to Nuanetsi Ranch have been resisting the move as they are adamant that the area is not fit for human habitation.
“They are unhappy that the area that was pegged and cleared was rocky and therefore not suitable for meaningful agriculture.”
Mr Chikovo said the move had stalled progress at Tokwe-Murkosi Dam.
He, however, expressed hope that a solution would be found for the families to be relocated.
He said the Zimbabwe Bio Energy had already secured equipment to clear 2 000 hectares of
alternative land in the Nuanetsi Ranch.
The provincial administrator said they had already pegged 400 plots with each family expected to get four hectares of cleared land.
At least 524 families were set to be relocated from Tokwe-Murkosi in December last year for the construction of five saddle dams in the Zunga area on the border of Chivi South and Masvingo districts.
Dam construction is at 60 percent and with an estimated 1,8 billion cubic metres of water, the dam would be Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam upon completion.
Online Reporter