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George Maponga in Masvingo
ZIMBABWE’s largest interior water body, Tugwi-Mukosi Dam in Chivi district, will soon start accruing economic benefits for the nation in the sphere of tourism as the Government mobilises resources and investors to attract more visitors and showcase local tourism products to both local and international visitors.
Tugwi-Mukosi cost around US$250 million to construct and the reservoir with a capacity of 1,8 billion cubic metres offers vast opportunities for tourism through its scenic topography and islands that are not only captivating to the tourist eye but also offers prospects for building of hotels and lodges.
A game park is planned in the dam’s buffer zone while recreational boating in the vast lake has also been touted as another low-hanging tourism fruit.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Babra Rwodzi said President Mnangagwa said communities in Masvingo and the nation at large must draw dividends from the country’s largest interior water body that has largely remained underused since it was commissioned in May 2017.
Addressing guests during a tourism promotion event at a Masvingo hotel, Minister Rwodzi said Masvingo province was among the priority regions identified by her ministry to stimulate the growth of tourism to anchor the national economy in line with Vision 2030.
‘‘We are working flat out to make sure that as a ministry we effect developments at Tugwi-Mukosi as per the wishes of our President Dr E.D. Mnangagwa. It is within my ministry’s purview to see to it that there is investment at Tugwi-Mukosi and I am also equally concerned why the dam is still lying idle,” said Minister Rwodzi.
‘‘We are busy mobilising funds for investment at Tugwi-Mukosi and I am having sleepless nights trying to mobilise funding for these investments. But I can assure you that between this year and next year we will have something tangible at that dam in terms of investments especially in the sphere of tourism.’’
Besides funding from private investors, Government would also mobilise considerable funding from the 2 percent tourism levy which businesses in the tourism sector must pay.
‘‘We will not be negotiating on the issue of the 2 percent tourism levy and we want it to be paid without fail because we need to use that money to effect developments such as the ones we have earmarked for Tugwi-Mukosi Dam to promote the growth of tourism. There will be no sacred cows in the paying of the tourism levy and in turn we want to assure the nation that we will put the proceeds from the levy to good use,” said the Cabinet Minister.
Minister Rwodzi said Masvingo, Manicaland and Kariba were priority areas for investment to grow the tourism sector saying Government would continue to leverage on existing tourist attractions and make sure the nation accrued maximum benefits.
At total of 24 anchor projects had been identified by Government at Tugwi-Mukosi for off-take and the majority had a bias towards tourism.
Already, Government, through the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works had indicated that plans were at an advanced stage to make sure the dam’s shoreline, that straddles over 160 hectares, is fully developed to make Tugwi-Mukosi Masvingo’s own version of Kariba Town whose growth was spurred by building of the world’s largest man-made lake on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
A Tugwi-Mukosi investment conference is billed in the first quarter of this year to explore investment opportunities at the dam following the crafting of the dam’s master plan which has since been approved by Cabinet.
Online Reporter