adminTemba Dube Senior Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council is likely to decommission a second supply dam, Inyankuni this week.
The city would be left with Insiza, Lower Ncema and Umzingwane which is being supplied with water pumped from Mtshabezi Dams following the decommissioning of Upper Ncema Dam earlier in the year.
In a statement responding to questions from Chronicle, council’s senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu however said decommissioning of Inyakuni was unlikely to affect the three day, weekly water shedding schedule.
“Inyankuni Dam is expected to run out within a week or two. The remaining dams have adequate water to take the city until the next rainy season provided the water shedding schedule is maintained. Pumping from Mtshabezi is approximately 6 500 cubic metres per day instead of the 17 000 cubic metres because it’s not pumping 24 hours as was originally planned,” said Mrs Mpofu.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) is reportedly failing to pump water from Mtshabezi Dam at full capacity because of shortage of manpower.
The outgoing Minister of Water Resources, Management and Development, Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo is on record saying Zinwa needed to employ 12 more people if it is to pump water 24 hours.
The laying of the pipeline was completed last October but the city could only draw an average of 3 000 cubic metres of water daily because it was being powered by generators.
The Mtshabezi project missed several deadlines and residents of Bulawayo, including the city fathers, had lost hope of ever getting supplies from the dam.
The city’s unrestricted daily water usage is about 145 000 cubic metres and shedding has reduced it to about 100 000 daily.
The permanent solution to the city’s water crisis is said to be the National Matabeleland Zambezi Pipeline (NMZWP) which was first mooted in 1912.
Dr Sipepa Nkomo said the $1,2 billion needed for the project was sourced from China and the project was likely to be completed within three years.
Meanwhile, Mrs Mpofu urged residents to continue conserving water to ensure the city pulls through to the next rainy season.
Online Reporter