Zinwa gets $7 million for borehole drilling

GOVERNMENT has channelled $7 million to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) to finance drilling of boreholes around the country, an official has said.

Speaking on the side lines of the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba in Bulawayo on Thursday, chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment, Water, Tourism and Hospitality, Wonder Mashange, said the funding follows recommendations to the Ministry of Finance to capacitate Zinwa in order to address water challenges in different communities.

"We recommended as a committee that the Ministry of Finance should capacitate Zinwa in order to address water challenges. The Ministry of Finance responded and they gave us about $7 million towards that," he said.

"This money will help them to purchase some borehole drilling machines. If Zinwa is capacitated each province should benefit in the drilling of boreholes in order to alleviate water shortages and to provide clean water to citizens as enshrined in the constitution."

Mr Mashange said the tendering process for the project has been done and in the next month borehole drilling machines would be purchased. He said the initiative would help regions with little rainfall since boreholes would tap underground water that can also be used for irrigation purposes.

"There are some areas that receive little or low rainfall. By having these borehole drilling machines we would be able to tap underground water and utilise it for irrigation purposes. People will have solar powered irrigation schemes and thereby upgrade their livelihoods," he said.