Andrew
Sunday Mail Reporter
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has contracted 11 local companies to lay the 245-kilometre pipeline from Gwayi-Shangani Lake to Bulawayo.
The eleven firms — Mamford Engineers (Pvt) Ltd, Masimba Holdings Limited, Fossil Contracting, Conduit Investments, ESOR Construction, Grindale Engineering, Redan-ORCA-Sesani, Great Dyke Earthmoving (Pvt) Ltd-Mark Bokano joint venture, Karna Consortium, Technoexpert and Latmak Supply Chain (Pvt) Limited — are currently mobilising equipment to their respective sites.
Each contractor has been given at least 21km to work on.
Zinwa contracted China International Water and Electric Corporation to construct the 650 million cubic metres Gwayi-Shangani Lake, which is part of the grand and ambitious National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP).
Construction of the pipeline, which will draw water from the dam, is being funded by the Government through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).
Laying of the pipeline is scheduled to be completed by December.
Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said: “A total of 11 local companies have been contracted to work on the Gwayi-Shangani to Bulawayo pipeline.
“Zinwa showed and handed over the 11 sites to the respective contractors last week and the contractors are currently mobilising the necessary resources and moving on to the sites.
“The handover of the sites marks the commencement of the project implementation.
“Each contractor will work on a 21-kilometre stretch of the pipeline.”
She added: “The pipeline is being funded by Government through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) and Government has made the commitment to fund the project with a completion target of December 2022.
“The pipeline is taking the same route as other infrastructure between Gwayi-Shangani and Bulawayo such as railway and power lines and is expected to have a very minimal impact on human settlements.”
On February 28, Zinwa signed a US$50 million contract with Flowtite South Africa to supply the glass fibre reinforced pipes.
Flowtite will set up a plant by the end of the year to manufacture the glass fibre pipes in Zimbabwe for both the pipeline and other local needs.
Online Reporter