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Farirai Machivenyika in Mt Darwin
The Second Republic has made great efforts in funding dam construction across the country after work on some reservoirs started earlier had stalled due to lack of funds, a senior official with the Zimbabwe National Water Authority told a Parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
Speaking during a tour of Semwa Dam site in Mt Darwin district by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement, ZINWA’s director of engineering and hydrological services Engineer Takudza Makwangudze said construction of Semwa Dam began in 2012 with meaningful progress only being noted since 2018 with the coming in of the Second Republic under the leadership of President Mnangagwa.
The parliamentary committee is on a countrywide assessment tour of ZINWA projects.
“Most of the activities you will see got resources in the past five years where there was a lot of interventions from the Second Republic,” he said.
Eng Makwangudze said Semwa Dam was 34,2 percent complete with US$120 million having been availed of the over US$380 million required to complete the dam.
When complete the dam will allow at least 12 000 hectares of land to be put under irrigation, provision of potable water for Mt Darwin and Rushinga towns and the establishment of fisheries.
“We understand that there are competing needs that require Government funding, especially with the El-Nino drought that requires funding so that there’s enough food in the country,” he added.
Other dam construction projects recording progress since the coming of the Second Republic include Kunzvi Dam now more than 50 percent complete and Gwayi-Shangani Dam now 70 percent complete.
The two dams, which had been on the plans for decades, are expected to alleviate water woes for Harare Metropolitan and Bulawayo Metropolitan.
Communities living along the pipeline to Bulawayo from Gwayi-Shangani will also benefit from irrigation being established along the way. Other dams that have been completed under the Second Republic include Muchekeranwa and Chivhu dams.
Under Government’s Vision 2030, at least 350 000 hectares should be put under irrigation to make the country more food secure in light of climate change-induced droughts.
Online Reporter