Bulawayo Water crisis is set to ease as the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA)’s announcement that it is now working none stop at the Epping Forest Borehole Project in Nyamandlovu, The Sunday New reports. This was revealed yesterday when Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Settlement, Dr Anxious Jongwe Masuka, toured 2 water projects in the region.
Speaking after the tour, the former ZAS CEO said:
The purpose of my visit was to familiarise myself with the water projects being undertaken by Zinwa, first to supply water to the residents of Bulawayo and secondly for irrigation purposes. I was happy with the progress being made at the Gwayi-Shangani Dam which is going to be one of the biggest inland dams in the country, of which the dam is now 39 percent complete with construction work expected to be completed by December 2021.
At Epping Forest, I am especially happy that all the construction work is on course, with workers now on 24-hour shifts. On their part Zinwa gave assurances that they will have completed by end of October or even earlier, what we are now working on is for Zesa to install the dedicated power line as a matter of urgency so we get the additional 10 megalitres of water from these boreholes being fed into the system
The Minister also said the Gwayi Shangani Dam construction which recently resumed as the country evolves out of the COVID-19 lockdown will not only be used to augment Bulawayo Water shortages but will also be used to sustain a power plant:
As you know the long-term purpose of that dam is for the construction of a pipeline to Bulawayo, which we envisage will take four years, we thus need work to continue steadily so that the contractor meets the December 2021 deadline so that work on the pipeline can immediately commence. The plan also is that the power station that is to be established at the dam be completed at the same time as the construction of the dam, where we envisage that the electricity generated will immediately be fed into the national grid, which is another plus in terms of this project.
Bulawayo City Council has started a 144-hour water rationing schedule due to many reasons.
More: The Sunday News