Minister makes case for Tshikwalakwala

Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
THE Minister of Rural Development and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage, Abednico Ncube, has called for the urgent resuscitation of Tshikwalakwala irrigation scheme located about 135 km east of Beitbridge town. Minister Ncube said the irrigation scheme was a major source of livelihood for people in the district, hence the need to revive the project as a matter of urgency. He said there was also a need to upgrade communication facilities around Tshikwalakwala as people were relying on South Africa for telephone, television and radio services.

The Minister said the government must not let the irrigation scheme die. He made the remarks during the launch of the Matabeleland South Food for Asset programme at Tshikwalakwala irrigation scheme on Friday .

“We understand the project is grinding to a halt because the plotholders are failing to maintain and repair the diesel engines and that most of the canals were destroyed by floods in 2013. The government through the Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company must make sure this project is connected to electricity as soon as possible.

“We’re glad to announce that through the food for assets, the project will be back to its glory days,” he said. Minister Ncube said the irrigation project’s failure was worsening the drought situation in the province. Initiated in 1976, the government-owned irrigation scheme with 163 plotholders has become a pale shadow of its former self.

“The situation here is a cause for concern considering that we’re in agriculture natural region five where crop husbandry depends mostly on irrigation farming. It’s sad to note that despite receiving a tractor, planter and plough under the government’s more food programme, the dream to revive irrigation farming remains a perennial mirage,” he said.

The Minister said the food for assets programme, which was being coordinated by the District Development Fund (DDF) and the Department of Social Services, will go a long way in rehabilitating key infrastructure including roads, clinics, schools, irrigation schemes and dip tanks among others.

“Communities are therefore required to work for 15 days per month at four hours per day per household in exchange for a 50kg bag of maize. The food for assets programme will not only help alleviate food insecurity but will also go a long way in rehabilitating key infrastructure,” he said.