News / Regional
Beitbridge town council needs US$3M to complete water projects
01 Apr 2013 at 06:05hrs | Views
The Beitbridge town council needs at least US$3 million to complete the outstanding water and sanitation projects that would ensure enough water supplies in the border town, an official has said.
Beitbridge Town secretary Dr Sipho Singo said this during a meeting of the Disaster Management Committee involving Zimbabwe and South Africa. He said part of the money would be used to rehabilitate and upgrade the whole sewer reticulation system.
More reservoir tanks would be made available for water storage.
Dr Singo said they had just completed implementing the us$2,3 million World Bank-funded Emergency Water and Sanitation project which had seen the management of solid waste improving by 90 percent and water supply increasing in most suburbs in the town.
The programme mainly focused on rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities, sewer reticulation, infrastructure and effective solid waste management.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) is presently pumping a third of the daily requirement of water.
The town requires an average of 15 000 cubic metres of water per day to supply a population of 40 000 people.
"We are very grateful to the World Bank for the funding which has seen us addressing some of our challenges in terms of water and sanitation and solid waste management," Dr Sibanda said.
The bank, he said, had also shown an interest in funding the local authority's future capital projects.
Dr Singo said they were also looking forward to the completion of a new water treatment plant which is being constructed by Zinwa and funded by central Government.
"Our water pumping and storage has greatly improved following an intervention by the central Government and World Bank, though as a local authority we still need more money to ensure that we have total coverage in terms of water supply.
"We are also looking forward to the completion of another water treatment plant by Zinwa and believe that by the end of this year we will have enough water for our town."
At least 40 boreholes have been drilled in the town to augment water supplies.
These, he said, were being monitored around the clock for any breakdowns.
"The provision of clean water and solid waste management are very critical components as we seek to develop the town in the shortest possible time," he said.
It is also understood that a serious shortage of funds is affecting the construction of the 63km Zhovhe Beitbridge canal that is expected to alleviate water woes.
The project is also expected to turn the 63km stretch into a greenbelt through the setting up of irrigation schemes and other horticulture projects.
Beitbridge Town secretary Dr Sipho Singo said this during a meeting of the Disaster Management Committee involving Zimbabwe and South Africa. He said part of the money would be used to rehabilitate and upgrade the whole sewer reticulation system.
More reservoir tanks would be made available for water storage.
Dr Singo said they had just completed implementing the us$2,3 million World Bank-funded Emergency Water and Sanitation project which had seen the management of solid waste improving by 90 percent and water supply increasing in most suburbs in the town.
The programme mainly focused on rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities, sewer reticulation, infrastructure and effective solid waste management.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) is presently pumping a third of the daily requirement of water.
The town requires an average of 15 000 cubic metres of water per day to supply a population of 40 000 people.
"We are very grateful to the World Bank for the funding which has seen us addressing some of our challenges in terms of water and sanitation and solid waste management," Dr Sibanda said.
The bank, he said, had also shown an interest in funding the local authority's future capital projects.
Dr Singo said they were also looking forward to the completion of a new water treatment plant which is being constructed by Zinwa and funded by central Government.
"Our water pumping and storage has greatly improved following an intervention by the central Government and World Bank, though as a local authority we still need more money to ensure that we have total coverage in terms of water supply.
"We are also looking forward to the completion of another water treatment plant by Zinwa and believe that by the end of this year we will have enough water for our town."
At least 40 boreholes have been drilled in the town to augment water supplies.
These, he said, were being monitored around the clock for any breakdowns.
"The provision of clean water and solid waste management are very critical components as we seek to develop the town in the shortest possible time," he said.
It is also understood that a serious shortage of funds is affecting the construction of the 63km Zhovhe Beitbridge canal that is expected to alleviate water woes.
The project is also expected to turn the 63km stretch into a greenbelt through the setting up of irrigation schemes and other horticulture projects.
Source - TH
