Gwanda gets cash for water project

Richard Muponde Gwanda Correspondent
GWANDA Town Council has received $760,000 from the International Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) to complete the construction of Gwanda 5 mega litre reservoir in Spitzkop suburb.

The reservoir, which has a capacity of six million litres, will ease the perennial water shortages which have dogged the town for years.

The project started years back and stalled in 2010 because of financial constraints before the fresh cash injection by the bank.

Gwanda mayor, Councillor Knowledge Ndlovu, said the cash injection has come at an opportune time.

He said the Spitzkop reservoir would solve the town’s water problems.

“We’ve managed to buy all the material needed for the completion of the reservoir. We’re waiting for the contractor to come back on site as there are one or two things which are being processed. However, the project may be completed mid-year. We’re working hard so that we meet our target but it all depends on the speed of the contractor.

“Once done, the problem of water in Gwanda will be solved 100 percent but we should solve our issues with Zinwa first because we might want to fill the reservoir to capacity but the supply of water might not be forthcoming. The only problems we’re likely to face in future are those of burst water pipes,” said Clr Ndlovu.

Gwanda town depends on the bulk water supplied by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa).

The new development has put smiles on the faces of the town’s residents some of whom have been forced to go for periods of up to a month without the precious liquid.

Gwanda Residents Association chairperson, Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo, said the completion of the reservoir was a welcome relief to residents.

“We hope the project will be completed without hassles. We had a meeting last weekend and it was the general feeling of residents that now the funds are in the custody of council instead of the contractor there’s a need to set up a stakeholder’s committee to oversee the completion of the tank working together with council. This is purely a people’s project,” said Fuzwayo.

The town’s water shortages have been exacerbated by the rift between Zinwa and the local authority over the council’s reported reluctance to pay bulk water bills to the parastatal.

The rift saw Zinwa on several occasions cutting water supplies to the town.

However, late last year relations thawed between the two authorities after they found common ground to assure residents of uninterrupted water supplies.