News / Local
Byo is a decade away from tapping water from Gwayi - Shangani Dam
06 Jun 2012 at 09:31hrs | Views
Bulawayo would not be able to tap water from the Gwayi-Shangani Dam until 2023, the municipality has revealed.
"The proposed bulk supply augmentation by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) which is to transfer water from the Zambezi River via the Gwayi - Shangani Dam at an estimated current day cost of $1.3 billion is not likely to be implemented before 2023," a team of consultants hired by BCC have said.
This means that the city with a population of over one million residents will continue to face water shortages amid reports that the current supply days -- Lower Ncema, Umzingwane, Upper Ncema, Inyankuni and Insiza. have close to 20 months water supply.
A Century old ambitious plan to tap water from the Zambezi River to ease intermittent water shortages in parched Matabeleland was seen as the only solution to water woes.
The Zambezi Water Project, includes three phases -- Phase One: construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, Phase Two: construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam to Bulawayo Pipeline and the final Phase Three which will see the construction of a pipeline from the Gwayi-Shangani Dam to the Zambezi River.
By the end, a 450km pipeline will supply water to Bulawayo and create a green belt on its path.
Construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam â€" expected to provide a reservoir for the project -- began in September 2004 but has been hampered by lack of funding.
Successive budgetary allocations for the project were either a drop in the ocean, or diverted by the Zanu-PF government, fuelling perceptions in the region that Matabeleland was being "marginalised."
"The proposed bulk supply augmentation by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) which is to transfer water from the Zambezi River via the Gwayi - Shangani Dam at an estimated current day cost of $1.3 billion is not likely to be implemented before 2023," a team of consultants hired by BCC have said.
This means that the city with a population of over one million residents will continue to face water shortages amid reports that the current supply days -- Lower Ncema, Umzingwane, Upper Ncema, Inyankuni and Insiza. have close to 20 months water supply.
A Century old ambitious plan to tap water from the Zambezi River to ease intermittent water shortages in parched Matabeleland was seen as the only solution to water woes.
By the end, a 450km pipeline will supply water to Bulawayo and create a green belt on its path.
Construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam â€" expected to provide a reservoir for the project -- began in September 2004 but has been hampered by lack of funding.
Successive budgetary allocations for the project were either a drop in the ocean, or diverted by the Zanu-PF government, fuelling perceptions in the region that Matabeleland was being "marginalised."
Source - Byo24News
