Zanu-PF MP to focus on poll promises

types-of-irrigation

Richard Muponde, Plumtree Correspondent
NEWLY-elected Zanu-PF Bulilima West MP Cde Dingimuzi Phuthi has said he will focus on the resuscitation of a dam and irrigation scheme in his constituency which became obsolete 45 years ago as promised by President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.

Mabhongwane Dam silted in the 1970s leading to the death of a thriving irrigation scheme in Mabhongwane area of Plumtree at the border with Botswana.

The dam is no longer visible and one cannot tell that there was once an irrigation scheme as the area is now a forest with overgrown mopane and acacia trees.

During the election campaign, Cde Phuthi said he would deliver on the promise to resuscitate the dam and irrigation scheme when elected into Parliament.

In interview with The Chronicle, Cde Phuthi said before the elections the party asked every aspiring MP to list priority projects in his or her constituency for funding by the Government and he had put Mabongwane dam and irrigation scheme on top of his list.

“We promised people that we will bring development to them when we win the elections. Now that that they have voted me into Parliament I have to deliver on what we promised.

“This what President ED Mnangagwa said will be his priority in the constituency. We want to rehabilitate Mabhongwane Dam which used to be a big dam supporting an irrigation scheme in the 1970s,” said Cde Phuthi.

“The dam also used to provide water for wildlife and livestock. This is a big project for us and once we do that Bulilima West among will be turned into a greenbelt. This is because we will also resuscitate the irrigation scheme which was there.”

He said the demise of the dam led to the collapse of recreational facilities around the area as tourists used to come for recreational activities which benefitted locals.

“There was a hotel at the dam where whites would come and book to have fun fishing and boating in the dam. It needs commitment because we still have the caretaker who used to work at the dam who knows the spillway and where the valves were before they were all buried in the sand. This will boost our local tourism. Above all it will reduce the human and wildlife conflict which we are experiencing where elephants are invading villages in search of water,” he said.

@richardmuponde

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