Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza [email protected]
A HIGH level African Development Bank (AfDB) delegation this week visited the Bopoma Glassblock Dam site in Matabeleland South, marking a positive development in the drafting of a takeoff water purchase agreement between Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and the funders of the project that is expected to ease the city’s water challenges in the short to medium term.
The US$98 million Bopoma Glassblock Dam to be built in the Upper Umzingwane Catchment Area, Insiza, Matabeleland South Province, is touted as a medium-term solution to Bulawayo’s water challenges.
Strategically located at the confluence of Gwanda, Umzingwane and Filabusi districts, the dam will be built by JR Goddard Contracting Pvt (Ltd) and is expected to be completed in three years.
When full the dam will hold 129 million cubic metres and council can pump up to 68 megalitres a day.
The dam will be Bulawayo’s second-largest supply dam after Insiza Dam, which has a capacity of 173 million cubic metres.
“A high level delegation from the AfDB visited Bulawayo and the Glassblock Dam site this week along with senior officials from the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, BCC and representatives of the JR Goddard Consortium.
“Considerable progress has now been achieved in the drafting of a water offtake purchase agreement between BCC and the consortium,” Bulawayo Mayor, Councillor David Coltart, said in an interview yesterday.
“The draft agreement has now been sent to Government for final approval. BCC is grateful to the AfDB and the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works for their extremely helpful interventions and we look forward to Glassblock Dam project now becoming a reality.
“The dam is a critical component of Bulawayo’s medium term solution to its water shortage challenges. The dam will guarantee Bulawayo adequate water until 2040 and thereafter we turn to Lake Gwayi Shangani Dam, hopefully the dam and the pipeline will be completed by then,” said Clr Coltart.
While addressing stakeholders during a combined Provincial Development Committee (PDC) and Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting yesterday, Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube assured residents the city would not spend a single cent in the construction of the dam.
Residents were worried that the city was stretching its budget by funding the construction of Glassblock Dam.
“Let me reassure the residents of Bulawayo that council is not spending a single cent in the construction of Glassblock Dam. The construction of the dam is wholly funded by private players while Government is constructing the Lake Gwayi-Shangani, the two dams that will provide a permanent solution to Bulawayo’s water woes,” said Minister Ncube.
“The only pertinent question that residents should be asking council is how much it will cost to bring clean and reliable water into their homes when the dam is completed,” she said.
Government awarded the tender to JR Goddard Contracting in 2019, under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
Under the agreement, the city will pay 90 cents for a cubic metre of raw water during the first 10 years of the repayment period. The cost will drop to 70 cents for the next 15 years.
In comparison, BCC pays 29 cents for a cubic metre of raw water from Mtshabezi Dam and 51 cents for water from Nyamandlovu Aquifer. The cost of treated water for residents could rise by 16 cents per kilolitre (1000 litres), increasing the tariff from US$1,22 to US$1,38 per kilolitre.
