STAFF WRITER
SEVERAL communities in the vast Matabeleland North province are set to benefit from the Gwayi-Shangani pipeline upon its completion.
This was said by President Emmerson Mnangagwa as he commissioned the Epping Forest borehole project in Nyamandlovu and also officiated at the ground breaking ceremony of the Gwayi-Shangani pipeline on Thursday.
According to Mnangagwa, the Gwayi-Shangani Dam project will be completed in December this year with the 245km pipeline that connects the dam to Bulawayo set to be completed in 2022 as the government moves to end Bulawayo’s perennial water challenges.
The dam, with a holding capacity of 650 million cubic metres of water, and pipeline project are major components of the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP), which was first mooted in 1912 but has failed to take off under previous successive administrations.
The project involves various phases which include the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, the construction of a pipeline from the dam to Bulawayo and another pipeline which will draw water from the Zambezi River.
However, while the project is largely aimed at the Bulawayo residents, the President indicated that people in the province were not going to be left out as a green belt will be created.
“Agriculture remains the bedrock of our economy hence strategic policies continue to be rolled out to ensure greater production, productivity and profitability in the sector.
“To this end, plans for an irrigation scheme covering over 6 000ha in the vicinity of the dam are in place. In addition, the large volume of water from the project will propel irrigation activities along the pipeline route in parts of Lupane, Tsholotsho and Umguza districts. Matabeleland North province will therefore become a food secure and exporter of surplus agriculture produce as well as play host to viable rural industry systems.”
In August last year, Mnangagwa reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to solve water problems bedeviling Bulawayo, further directing that a three-phased budget be immediately presented to his office for approval.
“In keeping with my administration’s results oriented culture and pledge to mordenise and develop national infrastructure through our own means, the project will be undertaken by various local contractors for the different sections of the pipeline. This will not only speed up the completion of the civil works, but equally provide employment and empowerment for contractors and communities along the construction pipe,” Mnangagwa said.
He further noted that Epping Forest and the Rochester projects remain part of the short term interventions by government to ensure that there is clean and affordable potable water in the city.
“As we move towards the attainment of vision 2030, it is my administration’s aspiration to have a long term and sustainable solution to the city of Bulawayo’s perennial water challenges. Reliable water supplies and other enablers must position the city as an attractive investment destination and the country’s industrial hub,” he said.
