adminChronicle on Tuesday visited the site of the proposed Zhovhe water canal and there was no activity.
There was a malfunctioning caterpillar and a few old construction machinery used in clearing the area more than six years ago.
The chief executive officer of Beitbridge Rural District Council, Mr Albert Mbedzi, said the proposed canal, whose aim was to transform the surrounding area into a greenbelt, has over the years failed to take off owing to lack of funds.
“As council we are really concerned about the delays in the construction of the Zhovhe canal as large quantities of water continue to be wasted along the way through evaporation while in the process of flowing through a dry river bed on Umzingwane River into our storage dams.
“Our worry is that the town loses about 60 percent of water from Zhovhe Dam which we normally rely on when water levels in the Limpopo River go down yet the issue of a canal has been on the table for several years now,” he said.
Mr Mbedzi said there was a need for Government to urgently address the issue, which has been stalled for almost 20 years.
Zhovhe Dam, which has a water storage capacity of 133 cubic meters, was constructed in 1995 on the Lower Umzingwane River, a sub-basin of the Limpopo Basin in order to provide a secure water supply for Beitbridge town and irrigation farming projects in the surrounding areas.
Releases of water from Zhovhe Dam recharge an alluvial aquifer in the Lower Umzingwane River and the water is abstracted from boreholes and well-points in the river and on the banks.
“When Zhovhe Dam was constructed 17 years ago, it was meant to provide significant economic benefits for local communities through commercial agro-businesses that use the water for production of export crops such as citrus whose market is readily available, but sadly the delays in the construction of a canal continues to be a setback.
“These agro-businesses represent the main source of employment in the area. The proposed Zhovhe canal also has the potential of benefiting a greater breadth of the local communities through supporting the development of smallholder irrigation schemes such as the Zhovhe-Ndambe irrigation project,” said Mr Mbedzi.
The vice chairperson of the Zhovhe-Ndambe Irrigation Scheme, Mrs Sheila Moyo, said the local community had since lost hope on the implementation of the proposed canal.
She said they were facing an acute shortage of water to irrigate their crops yet huge volumes of water from Zhovhe Dam were not being utilised.
“We have a serious water problem at Zhovhe-Ndambe Irrigation Scheme, a problem that has largely been attributed to a leaking pipe linking the scheme and the dam. However, we are saying a canal would be a permanent solution to our problem and our main concern is that we are failing to utilise water from Zhovhe Dam,” she said.
Zhovhe-Ndambe Irrigation Scheme was officially opened in July 2011 by the Co-Minister of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi.
The establishment of the scheme was funded by the Beitbridge Rural District Council in conjunction withs several partners, which included the United Nations Organisation for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), World Vision and USAID.
The scheme measuring 18 hectares has 39 plot holders.
Matabeleland South provincial chief irrigation officer, Engineer Tamuka Moyo, said his department required at least $20 million to complete the Zhovhe canal project.
He, however, said inadequate funding continued to hamper progress.
“As the Department of Irrigation, we have done feasibility studies at the site and we also managed to clear about 30 hectares of land on which the pipes would be laid, but we have not been receiving funds from Government to continue with the project,” he said.
Senator Tambudzani Mohadi also expressed concern over lack of funding for the canal project.
“The Zhovhe canal project has been in the pipeline for several years and our concern is that Government is failing to release funds to kick-start it. We raised the issue during one of the pre- budget sessions, but surprisingly no funds were set aside for the project when Finance Minister (Tendai Biti) announced the 2013 National Budget.
“This is really worrying considering that the proposed project also has potential economic benefits for the local communities,” she said.
Online Reporter