Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE Government has started drilling 48 boreholes across Beitbridge District under the Presidential Boreholes Drilling Scheme to improve access to clean and safe water in every village, it has been learnt.
The initiative aims to provide clean water to all villages by 2025, with a target of 35 000 boreholes, according to Sona Solar Zimbabwe.
The project is being spearheaded by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) and implemented by various partners like Prevail Group International.
This is part of the Presidential Rural Development Programme and aligns with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
The scheme also extends to urban areas and includes the establishment of village business units, school business units, and youth business units, all supported by solar-powered boreholes.
In addition, the goal is to reduce the distance people travel for water, improve sanitation and support food security through initiatives like nutrition gardens.
Matabeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Cde Albert Nguluvhe, said the province had received two rigs to carry out the project in all the seven districts.
He was speaking during the commissioning of a solar-powered borehole system and water storage tanks donated to the Beitbridge District Hospital by the Cross-borders for Economic Development.
“In Beitbridge, our target is to drill 48 boreholes and work is already underway. A total of 24 boreholes will be drilled in each of the two constituencies respectively (Beitbridge East and Beitbridge West),” he said.
“We have advised the team that’s drilling boreholes to make use of local development structures made up of various stakeholders in our communities including church and traditional leaders.
“As we speak the team is busy in Beitbridge East, from there they will go to Beitbridge West and move to another district in our province.”
The minister said the idea was to solarise all the drilled boreholes to make use of the abundant renewable energy in the district at the same time creating nutrition gardens to address food and nutrition issues at the grassroots level.
Cde Nguluvhe said the scheme will follow through all the places with sited boreholes to benefit the neediest members of the community.
He said the scheme will also be extended to urban areas including Beitbridge urban where there are obtaining water challenges.
“We believe in equity and we are going to cover all the seven districts in our province so that no place or no one is left behind,” he said.
“A lot of our people in communal areas rely on crop and livestock farming and having these boreholes will go a long way in alleviating challenges they previously had accessing water,” said Cde Nguluvhe.
“At the same time we encourage that they are trained on maintenance issues of the equipment for it to have shelf life and benefit generations to come.”
