adminSpeaking during the tour of the dam yesterday officials from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) said the dam would be commissioned next week.
“The construction of Bubi-Lupane Dam has been completed and the project will be commissioned next week on Thursday,” said Mrs Marjorie Munyonga, the public relations manager for Zinwa.
“We have come here to make preparations for the commissioning of the dam. The programme will also include the official hand-over of the two schools, Mpofu Primary and Madojwa Primary, which were displaced when we built the dam.”
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to commission the project.
Gwayi Catchment manager Mr Fortune Musoni, who is also the project manager expressed excitement over the completion of the project.
He said engineers would now focus on the second phase of the project, which is to complete the water treatment plant and the pump station.
“We are glad the dam project has been completed. What is left now is to complete the water treatment plant, set up the pump house and then connect the pipes to the consumers,” said Mr Musoni.
During the tour the news crew observed that the dam wall, spillway and the return channel were complete.
Meanwhile, engineers were busy working on the treatment plant, which comprises two sedimentation plants, filter block and the samp.
Trenches for the water pipes had already been dug while the pipes that would connect water from the dam to Lupane Town had also been delivered to the site.
Earlier on Zinwa officials met the District Administrator for Lupane, Mr Christopher Chuma, Chief Mabhikwa and other Government officials to make logistical arrangements.
Asked on the progress at Mtshabezi pipeline, Mrs Munyonga said the project was nearing completion, but could not indicate when it would be commissioned.
She also said Zinwa would be meeting the contractor for Gwayi-Shangani Dam next week before work starts.
The commissioning of Bubi-Lupane Dam is expected to end water problems in Lupane and speed up developmental projects.
The dam has a capacity of 40 million cubic metres of water, which could supply consumers at the business centre and the surrounding areas throughout the year.
At the moment, Lupane, which is the provincial capital of Matabeleland North, draws its water from four boreholes, which constantly break down.
Matabeleland North provincial heads of Government departments have repeatedly called for the speedy connection of water to Lupane Government houses. The civil servants contend that lack of adequate water supplies in the town was blocking their relocation.
Online Reporter