Chronicle Editor
Faith Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
THE Mwenezi Sub-catchment Council Committee (SCC) has donated 100 bags of cement to Zvomupungu community for the reconstruction of a dam wall that was washed away by a cyclone more than two decades ago.
Since then the villagers have been traveling long distances to access clean water for domestic use and their livestock.
The chairman of Mwenezi Sub-catchment Council, Mr Michael Chiwawa, said they were approached by the Chitenderano Chemadzimai group of women from Zvomupungu community Ward 14 requesting assistance to rehabilitate the community dam.
“The dam services about 420 families from Orewood and Rinnette areas, two primary schools and one secondary school. The community presented a bill of quantities for the required materials to rehabilitate the dam. The list of materials included cement, mesh wire and polythene paper. We sat as a sub-catchment council committee in October 2021 and resolved to donate 150 bags of cement towards the project,” he said.
In 2022, the sub-catchment council’s technical and operations sub-committee visited the dam and observed that the dam wall level was very low and it could not hold water when the rainy season approached. During construction, a permeable rock which was on the construction lane was removed with engineers citing that it was not strong enough to hold the pressure when the dam was full.
“A lot of cement was consumed because the gap created during the removal of the rock was too deep. The community managed to gather stones, river sand and gravel within the dam area for construction. Labour was provided by the community. The donated cement was put into good use,” said Mr Chiwawa.
The SCC resolved to donate another 110 bags of cement worth USD$1 144 towards the rehabilitation of the dam wall which was supposed to be raised to slightly above one metre.
The SCC said they would continue to offer their services to the community as much as possible adding that they do not want to leave the project incomplete as it would not achieve its intended purpose.
“Available today are 100 x 50kg bags of cement for the continuation of the project since it hasn’t reached the expected level. As a sub-catchment council, we hope and trust that this donation will be put to good use and serve the purpose of improving livelihoods of the Zvomupungu community,” he said.
Bongani Ndlovu