Zimpapers Logo

Media personnel and BCC officials during a tour of the critically low Bulawayo water supply dams on Thursday

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
BULAWAYO will not run dry and an allocation has been made in the 2017 National Budget to address the city’s water woes that have seen a 72-hour weekly water shedding schedule being introduced to avert a potential crisis, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.

In an interview, the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, said the budget to be presented by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa on December 8 in the National Assembly would provide funding for critical water works.

Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said the Government was working to ensure that Bulawayo does not run dry.

She said her Ministry was waiting for the 2017 budget allocations for the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, seen as one of the city’s long-term water solutions.

“What I know is that the current budget which is going to be presented before Parliament has an allocation for Gwayi-Shangani Dam. So we will await the presentation of that budget by the Minister. We don’t know how much but what I know is that the contractor is already in place for that and that’s positive. I’m very happy that there is an accommodation for this major development in Matabeleland region,” Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said.

She said her office has met with officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to brief them on critical areas that require prioritisation.

“We were very mindful of the fact that we need to put every effort and prioritise those dry areas like Matabeleland region. For us it’s a priority but I wouldn’t know the amount,” said Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri.

She said her wish was to see the dam’s construction being completed as soon as possible.

The Minister said her Ministry was also embarking on some stop-gap measures to ensure that the city never runs dry.

“We’re worried about Bulawayo but this is not to say we’re not doing any other mitigation over and above the Gwayi-Shangani Dam because already we’ve repaired all the boreholes at Epping Forest to draw underground water. We’re also ensuring that there’re more releases from Mtshabezi Dam. We’re looking at Insiza Dam with a view to putting a second pipeline so that we’re able to cover Bulawayo using Insiza Dam because there is a lot of water in Insiza. We’re working 24/7 to ensure that Bulawayo doesn’t run dry,” said Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri.

She said the Government was receiving unfair criticism from those who are saying it was not doing enough to ensure that the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project succeeds.

“The issue of Zambezi water, that one is a long term programme which the Government is looking into with the seriousness that it deserves. I cannot promise you that the funds will be availed at the shortest time possible. But you should know that the Government remains committed to ensuring that water becomes available in the long term to ensure that we’ve a long term solution to the Bulawayo water problem,” the Minister said.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said some corrupt officials are to blame for the several false starts of the project.

“I think it’s unfair that funds were availed with the assistance from the Malaysian government and you know what happened. It’s unfair to say nothing was done, the Government made an effort but the corruption is beyond us. So it’s unfair to say the Government is not committed,” she said.

On Thursday, city officials embarked on a tour of the city’s dams and it was established that water inflows following recent rains have not improved the city’s water situation.

— @nqotshili