Mgcini Dlamini
AT least 350 families are set to be resettled as their homesteads are within the flood line of Gwayi-Shangani dam.
This was revealed by Lucio Chayeruka, assistant resident engineer at the dam site.
“We do not want a repeat of what happened at Tokwe-Mukosi so we have already engaged the villagers,” Chayeruka told a visiting Matabeleland Collective delegation.
“Now that we have commenced the construction of the dam wall it is important to resettle the villagers who are within the flood line of the dam,” he added.
Chayeruka further said that the ministries of Lands and public works were overseeing the relocation.
Jenni Williams, Matabeleland Collective secretary general said the government should not repeat what it did in Kariba.
“Where are they going to be resettled? Are they going to be compensated, we do not want a repeat of what happened in Kariba where villagers were not compensated,” said Williams.
The Gwayi-Shangani dam is touted as the main solution to perennial water challenges in Bulawayo.
It is being constructed at the gorge where Gwayi and Shangani rivers merge to form a confluence in Mabale, Hwange.
The dam project comprises of the construction of a roller compacted concrete gravity arch dam, a 10MW power station a water pump station and other structures.
Also the project will see pipelines installed to draw water from the
