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The conference was held at the Small City Hall in Bulawayo and was attended, by among others, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Minister Mathema, who did not attend the conference as he was not invited, said in an interview yesterday that MDC-T was trying to gain political mileage out of the water project at the expense of the people of Bulawayo and Matabeleland at large, who are clamouring for its success.
Instead, he said Water Resources Management and Development Minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo should concentrate on completing the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane water pipeline.
“Let us prioritise the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline. I have said this over and over again from the time I was Deputy Minister of Water Resources but some people did not listen,” said Minister Mathema.
“When is the pipeline going to be completed? It is a stretch of 32 kilometres, but it has taken ages yet people now want to talk about NMZWP that would take years to complete.
“People always rush to say that nothing is done in Matabeleland yet they are the ones to blame.”
Minister Mathema said there were no funds to complete the NMZWP because the country’s economy has been “strangled” by sanctions invited by the MDC-T.
“The project is being used as a political gimmick. If we are practical and want to solve water problems in the city then let us connect Mtshabezi to Umzingwane.
“If there is no company willing to lay the pipes in the project then I will bring in the army otherwise people are just politicising NMZWP,” said Minister Mathema.
“The project has been there since 1912, it is a huge project and needs capital investment. Now everyone just wants to get political capital out of it yet it is a State project.”
Minister Mathema said the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Trust did not do a good job either.
Online Reporter