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The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) and Chinese firm Sino Hydro are finalising an agreement for the construction of Kunzvi Dam, touted as the panacea to Harare’s perennial water problems, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said Zinwa and Sino Hydro were concluding a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the dam to be built under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
“We are close to concluding an MoU between Zinwa and Sino Hydro. Kunzvi is going to be a Build-Own-Transfer arrangement where Sino Hydro will be responsible for building, also operating to recover the resources that it would have put in, then lastly transfer the dam to Zinwa,” she said.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri noted that Zimbabwe had 10 000 small, medium and large dams which were not being fully utilised.
Plans to construct Kunzvi were mooted more than 30 years but have been hampered by lack of funds.
The dam site is 67 kilometres north east of the capital, near Juru Growth Point on the Nyaguwi River.
When complete, the dam will carry 158,4 million cubic meters and produce 250 000 cubic meters of water daily.
At the moment, Harare recycles treated waste water back into its supply dam, Lake Chivero and uses more than nine chemicals to treat the precious liquid to make it safe for human consumption.
In addition to supplying water to Harare and its catchment areas, generating electricity and providing irrigation water, Kunzvi Dam will enable the city to save on the huge water treatment costs as it will be upstream of the capital unlike Lake Chivero which is downstream and is heavily contaminated by effluent from industries. — New Ziana.
Online Reporter