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Gwayi Catchment manager, Engineer Fortune Musoni yesterday said the contractor moved on site a few weeks ago.
“The contractor has moved on site and they have started working. They moved to the site soon after the New Year’s holidays,” said Eng Musoni in an interview from his Bulawayo office.
“At the moment they are clearing access roads to the site in preparation for the real construction work of the dam wall. That is a sign of hope for the venture. The project is funded by the Government under the Public Sector Investment Programme.”
The Minister of Water Resources Development and Management, Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo has indicated that the project would be completed within 36 months from the day of commencement.
Dr Sipepa Nkomo has said it was feasible to complete the project within a short period of time following the coming on board of the Chinese government, which pledged to allocate an additional $345 million in their budget to complete the project.
He said the money was a loan that would be paid back over 25 years at an interest rate of about three percent per annum.
Dr Sipepa Nkomo’s personal assistance Mr Butholezwe Nyathi also confirmed the commencement of work at the dam.
“Yes the contractor has moved on site. Tomorrow there is a site meeting in preparation for the commencement of construction work.
“For now the project is being financed using the $8 million that the Government allocated in its 2012 budget,” said Mr Nyathi.
The project is set to be done in three phases starting with the completion of Gwayi-Shangani Dam, which would receive water from Zambezi River.
The second phase would be the construction of a pipeline from the Gwayi-Shangani Dam to a reservoir in Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park suburb, by another contractor, China Dalian Technical Group.
Dr Sipepa Nkomo has said a funding facility to the tune of $864 million has been secured from the Chinese Exim Bank for the pipeline project.
The third and final phase will be the construction of a 245km pipeline from the Zambezi River to the Gwayi-Shangani Dam. Plans to draw water from the Zambezi were first mooted in 1912, but financial constraints have always hindered their implementation by successive governments.
An agricultural green belt expected to positively change the economic face of the country is also set to be created along the pipeline from the Zambezi River to Bulawayo.
Eng Musoni said the construction of a water treatment plant at Bubi-Lupane Dam was nearing completion.
“The treatment plant in Lupane is nearing completion. We are left with a pump house now and 26 local firms have applied for the tender for piping. The whole project was earmarked for completion in December, but because of the holiday break, we now expect it to be complete by May.”
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai officially commissioned Bubi-Lupane Dam last year.
The dam will supply water to Lupane, the provincial capital for Matabeleland North, which at the moment is using water from boreholes.
Online Reporter