Opinion / Columnist
As patient as a farmer, help us to help the nation.
18 Dec 2024 at 22:20hrs | Views
Even the famed bass fish, the sought-after red bream, and other aqua-marine life are in great danger of extinction as the white elephant Lilstock Dam has now been over-fished to supplement incomes. Energetic youths who had hoped to make productive horticulture projects on the shores of Lilstock Dam under the much-hyped Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme in Chiweshe are now losing hope as it has been all froth without beer.
Brick moulding and angling have kept people going. Different water engineers have come, seen, and left, leaving behind "mountains of hope and promises." To date, the project has been mothballed for times and a half. At one time, the project was a low-hanging fruit, almost tangible, as pipes were delivered to the site and the community thought and believed this was it. But, alas! Season in, season out, Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme has failed to rise and deliver copious water for that much-needed "green belt" in Chiweshe.
Even my uncle, who owns a spaza shop and had hoped to treble income from the much-acclaimed and proposed Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme, was seen packing his "Changani Bag" stock to look elsewhere for survival. It has been promises upon promises—call it a comedy of promises. The engineers, almost replaying a Houdini act, have acquired the rare skill of appearing and disappearing, leaving no progress on the project.
The drought in currency is a wake-up call to avoid procrastination and embrace a "the-time-is-now" attitude. The maize crop has withered, but we have a magnificent water body right under our noses. Fresh abundant water is going to waste, and now we are here, pangs of hunger and lack knocking at everyone's door. It's time we put our heads together and get the Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme running.
Kudos to His Excellency, the President of the Second Republic, who has assured the nation that no one would starve. Indeed, food aid is being delivered to the people. May those empowered to carry out distribution be blessed with a big heart. The grinding mills are quiet, the granaries are empty, and now and then, you see people exiting shops with 10kg prepackaged maize meal.
We need each other in times like this—and all the time. Green mealies, butternut, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.—some dreams are so strong that they become real.
Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme, rise and shine!
Cde Mutandawachingama
Ward 3, Mazowe
Brick moulding and angling have kept people going. Different water engineers have come, seen, and left, leaving behind "mountains of hope and promises." To date, the project has been mothballed for times and a half. At one time, the project was a low-hanging fruit, almost tangible, as pipes were delivered to the site and the community thought and believed this was it. But, alas! Season in, season out, Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme has failed to rise and deliver copious water for that much-needed "green belt" in Chiweshe.
Even my uncle, who owns a spaza shop and had hoped to treble income from the much-acclaimed and proposed Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme, was seen packing his "Changani Bag" stock to look elsewhere for survival. It has been promises upon promises—call it a comedy of promises. The engineers, almost replaying a Houdini act, have acquired the rare skill of appearing and disappearing, leaving no progress on the project.
The drought in currency is a wake-up call to avoid procrastination and embrace a "the-time-is-now" attitude. The maize crop has withered, but we have a magnificent water body right under our noses. Fresh abundant water is going to waste, and now we are here, pangs of hunger and lack knocking at everyone's door. It's time we put our heads together and get the Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme running.
We need each other in times like this—and all the time. Green mealies, butternut, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.—some dreams are so strong that they become real.
Chinehasha Irrigation Scheme, rise and shine!
Cde Mutandawachingama
Ward 3, Mazowe
Source - Cde Mutandawachingama
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