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Murkosi Dam.
Land to resettle the families has not yet been found.
The villagers fear they might lose out on irrigation spin-offs once the dam is completed in 22 months time.
Masvingo South legislator Cde Walter Mzembi, at the weekend appealed to Government to ensure families to be displaced also benefit from the dam’s water.
Cde Mzembi said this while addressing a constituency stakeholders workshop at Renco Mine.
“There are more than 3 000 families who will be displaced by the dam and now that construction work has resumed, it is important for Government and the Masvingo provincial leadership to make sure that land is found as soon as possible to resettle the families who will be affected by the dam.
“We must also emphasise that the people of Masvingo South, especially those who will be displaced by the dam, are able to benefit from the dam’s water especially in areas to do with irrigation,” said Cde Mzembi.
People in his constituency had asked him about their fate.
Government and the Masvingo provincial leadership had already put in place plans to resettle part of the families who will be affected by the Tokwe Murkosi Dam at the nearby Nuanetsi Ranch where they will be allocated irrigation plots.
Cde Mzembi said the arid Masvingo South was poised to be a massive greenbelt once Tokwe-Murkosi was completed.
He said companies such as Renco Mine were not supposed to continue milking the area of its natural resources without ploughing back into the community.
Cde Mzembi challenged civil servants, mainly teachers, to use their intellectual capital and actively participate in developmental programmes and projects in Masvingo South.
derick.khumalo