adminMarvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
GWANDA Municipality needs about $1 million to complete the Spitzkop Water Reservoir Project whose construction has been shelved for almost a year due to lack of money.The reservoir, touted as the long term solution to water shortage facing the town, is being constructed on top of Spitzkop Mountain.
Once complete, it is expected to put an end to perennial water problems facing residents in the high lying areas in Gwanda.
However, no activity had been taking place since September last year due to lack of funding for a project that started in 2012.
In an interview, Gwanda Mayor Councillor Knowledge Ndlovu said an estimated $1 million was required to complete the construction process.
He added that a lot of money has been injected into the project, hence it should not be a white elephant.
“We still need close to a $1 million for the project to be completed. At the moment, the project is almost 70 percent complete. Once complete, water problems in Gwanda would be a thing of the past,” he said.
Some residents in the high-lying areas such as in Spitzkop North Extension have resorted to using community taps as they have gone for months without running water in their homes due to poor pumping capacity at the main water distribution works.
“As council we are trying to get some quotations to buy a booster pump so that we make sure we boost water supply in those areas,” said Clr Ndlovu.
Clr Ndlovu said without the reservoir, the town would be faced with serious water problems as it was expanding with new suburbs being set up.
“The project has been at the same stage for a very long time and there is a lot of development that is happening on the other side. It would be a big challenge to providing water to the new suburbs that are coming up,” said Clr Ndlovu.
Due to funding problems, he appealed to donors and other well-wishers to chip in with assistance to promote development in the mining town.
derick.khumalo