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yesterday said there was need for all the stakeholders involved in the building of the giant dam to maintain the current momentum so that the dam is completed as scheduled by November next year.
Construction of Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam on the confluence of Tokwe and Mukorsi rivers on the border between Masvingo and Chivi districts is now almost 60 percent complete.
The dam, that is expected to cost about US$155 million, would have a capacity of 1,8 billion cubic metres of water.
Speaking during a tour of the dam site, Mr Mpamhanga exhorted all stakeholders involved in the project to work together.
“We have come to visit the Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam project so that we do not lose momentum in the construction of the dam which we want completed as per set targets.
“Of course, there are challenges to do with finances, but we want to make sure that this dam project is completed as per schedule.
“There is a need for all stakeholders involved in this dam project to closely work together to synchronise their operations so that we achieve our targets inasfar as completing the dam project is concerned,” he said.
He said he was satisfied with the progress but urged the stakeholders to closely liaise and co-ordinate.
Mr Mpamhanga said the major challenge at the moment was relocation of families affected by construction of five saddle dams, adding that these families have to be moved before the onset of the rains.
There are 508 families who should be relocated from the Zunga area in Chivi. The saddle dams would stop water from escaping from the dam’s flood area through valleys.
“Our major concern is the resettlement of 508 families who have to be relocated from areas where five saddle dams are being built. These families have to be relocated before the onset of the rains. We do not want their lives to be disrupted so they have to be moved fast,” he said.
Pegging of plots for the families has already started at Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi where the Development Trust of Zimbabwe offered Government 68 000 hectares to resettle the families.
Assessment of 400 families out of the 508 that would be relocated has already been completed.
Government has so far made available US$1 million for the relocation of the 508 families from the dam area to Nuanetsi Ranch.
Out of that amount, about US$386 000 has already been paid to some relocated families as compensation.
Mr Mpamhanga also said there was a need for the irrigation department to start planning on how water from Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam would immediately benefit communities in the arid Chivi and Masvingo districts.
He said upon completion the dam would turn vast tracts of land in Chivi and Masvingo districts into green belts but there was a need to start working on identifying the land which would be irrigated and methods to be used before the dam is completed.
A provincial ad hoc committee has already been set up in Masvingo involving all the ministries involved with the Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam to make sure that there is a co-ordinated approach to the project.
Mr Mpamhanga was accompanied by the Secretary for Information andPublicity and Presidential spokesperson Cde George Charamba and other senior Government officials.
leeroy
Online Reporter