adminThe Minister of Water Resources Development and Management Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo and the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Dr Ignatius Chombo toured the project yesterday and expressed satisfaction with progress made so far.
Although they could not set the date for the commissioning of the project, the two ministers said Bulawayo’s water problems would soon be a thing of the past.
“I cannot set a specific date for the completion of this project . . . it could be a day or two before we connect water from the dam to Bulawayo. What I can say is that I am satisfied with progress made,” said Dr Sipepa Nkomo, who has just attained a doctorate degree in leadership and management with a United States university.
“As you have seen the engineers are working on the final touches and very soon we will be doing some test runs to check if the pipeline is working properly and see if there are any leaks that we might need to rectify.”
Dr Nkomo said once connected the project would reduce water-shedding in Bulawayo by 24 hours.
“Mtshabezi Dam will release 17 000 megalitres of water to Bulawayo per day. The demand for water in Bulawayo is 129 000 megalitres per day against the supply of about 95 000 megalitres per day. This means we have a shortfall of 34 000 megalitres. Mtshabezi Dam water will not do away with water-shedding but will help reduce it by 24 hours,” he said.
Turning to the connection of power at the pump station, Dr Nkomo said the company which was awarded the tender to connect electricity from Gwanda was still working on the issue but indicated that there might be delays in connecting power.
He said the ministry had procured two generators to be used in the meantime while awaiting delivery of a bigger generator from overseas.
The generator would be used for power backup once electricity had been connected.
Dr Chombo said he was happy with progress on the project but urged Dr Nkomo to expedite it to ease the water problems in Bulawayo.
“I am happy that there is progress to talk about but we want this water to reach people’s homes in Bulawayo. I am not happy if this water remains here. My colleague is doing his best but the city fathers should also reciprocate Government efforts by managing water appropriately,” said Dr Chombo.
“People want water in their taps and we are not happy that Bulawayo has been suffering from water shortages for many years. Council should also do something about that and ensure that this becomes a thing of the past so that residents can pay their bills happily.”
The Mtshabezi pipeline, which has missed deadline several times, is viewed as the short-term solution to Bulawayo’s biting water shortages.
Meanwhile, seven openings have been made along the pipeline for the benefit of villagers.
Dr Chombo said villagers along the pipeline should take advantage of the project to do some irrigation projects in order to earn income and improve their nutrition.
Turning to the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP), Dr Nkomo said work would soon start after Government signed a $864 million deal with a Chinese company.
He said at the moment the contractor was working on the economic analysis of the project and getting the Environmental Impact Assessment report.
Dr Nkomo said once started, the contractor would take 36 months to finish Gwayi-Shangani Dam.
The two ministers, who were accompanied by the acting Provincial Administrator for Matabeleland South Mr Midard Khumalo and Zinwa engineers, had the opportunity to tour the completed crossings, reservoirs, the pump house and the dam.
Recently, the Bulawayo City Council introduced a 72-hour water-shedding schedule every week in a bid to stretch dwindling supplies to the next rainy season. Council has warned that the shedding duration could increase to 96 hours in the coming weeks if residents continued to use water above stipulated limits.
Two of the city’s five supply dams, Lower Ncema and Umzingwane, have already been decommissioned.
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo