Online Reporter
Completion of construction of Lake Gwayi-Shangani has missed a few deadlines since it started in 2004.
This has been due to cash constraints.
The Second Republic expedited works when it assumed office in November 2017. Its initial target was December 2019 but it missed it for the same reason and pushed it to 2022. Financial constraints intervened again resulting in that deadline being moved to December 2023, and again to the end of the 2023-2024 summer growing season.
Work on the dam is now 72 percent complete, a commendable stage if we consider the general financial challenges the Government continues to face.
Work on the 10-megawatt hydro power plant at the lake is advancing, with civil works for the powerhouse at 44 percent completion, which is encouraging as well.
Construction of a 252km pipeline to move Lake Gwayi-Shangani water to Bulawayo has been disrupted by lack of funding, with contractors having left pending payment.
Overall, and given the circumstances, we are encouraged by the progress on the building of Lake Gwayi-Shangani.
However, a recent Government decision to allocate $5 million monthly for the work is what will really make the country’s 113-year-old dream a reality in the next few months.
“We have been given $5 million to fund the ongoing construction works and Treasury has promised to release the same amount every month to expedite work. The project requires $4 million every month, so the proposed $5 million disbursement is a positive development. We are at 39 metres and we need to increase the height by another 22 metres,” we cited the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, Dr Anxious Masuka as saying at a recent stakeholders and inter-ministerial meeting.
The Government’s decision to add $1 million on the $4 million funding requirement and its pledge to allocate $5 million monthly until the completion of the project is great.
Authorities must continue with the disbursements as announced until the project is realised. We would be gladder if they add a few millions more on the $5 million so the dam project can be done much faster.
But the reservoir is only the first phase of what is an enormous, costly project. As we noted earlier, the pipeline — with six booster stations and 220-megalitre treatment plant at Cowdray Park — must be built as well, so Bulawayo, the key consumer of the water, gets it.
Irrigation schemes over 100 000 hectares are planned along the pipeline.
This gives an idea as to how big the Lake Gwayi -Shangani project is.
But we have Lake Tugwi-Mukosi, Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Highway, Trabablas Interchange and others as evidence of the Government’s excellent project delivery record.
Lake Gwayi-Shangani will be on that list, soon.
