Work on Tokwe-Murkosi Dam yet to commence

Masvingo South, has not yet resumed despite the allocation of about US$7 million by Finance Minister Tendai Biti in this year’s budget for the dam project.
Expectations were high that construction of the dam – which had been on hold for over six years due to under funding was set to resume after Government allocated some funds for the first time in more than five years, for resumption of construction work.
However, yesterday it emerged that work on the dam which needs over US$150 million to complete, is yet to take off as the US$7 million has not yet been released.
Masvingo provincial administrator Cde Felix Chikovo said it was not clear when work will eventually resume.
“No work has yet taken off the ground at Tokwe-Murkosi Dam which was allocated some in this year’s budget by Government and we believe that reason is because the money is still to be made available, but we hope that eventually the money will come so that construction work resumes,” said Cde Chikovo.
He said the Masvingo provincial leadership and the Government at large wanted the dam to be completed as soon as possible to provide the much-needed irrigation impetus in the southern Masvingo belt.
Tokwe-Murkosi Dam has a potential to irrigate over 25 000 hectares and turn the southern parts of Masvingo and Chivi into greenbelts and end the province’s basketcase status stemming from perennial drought-induced food shortages.
Construction at the dam started in 1998 and was supposed to be completed in 2002 but the main contractor Salini Impregilio an Italian company suspended the contract in 1999 citing payment problems. When complete the dam will become Zimbabwe’s largest inland water body with a holding capacity of about 1,2 billion cubic metres of water.