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Mkhululi Ncube, Chronicle Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) says a few people will be affected by the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani-Bulawayo water pipeline under the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP).

President Mnangagwa last week officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony for the pipeline in Nyamandlovu where he pledged that the project which is the solution to Bulawayo water shortage and was first mooted in 1912, will be completed under his administration.

The Gwayi-Shangani Dam project will be completed in December this year with the 245km pipeline that connects the dam to Bulawayo set to be completed in 2022.

Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said the pipeline will move along the railway line.

“The Gwayi-Shangani-Bulawayo pipeline, whose construction is expected to commence soon as part of the implementation of the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project, will be traversing very close to the existing railway line where there are very few properties, if any, due to the obtaining servitude requirements. Efforts have been made to minimise any disturbances to properties and homes,” she said.

Mrs Munyonga said a detailed survey report for the project which will be out after two months will provide more clarity on any movement of people along the pipeline route, which is expected to be very minimal.

She said if people and other structures are going to be affected “such cases will be dealt with in terms of existing laws and procedures for the removal and subsequent resettlement of affected people”.

The dam will have a holding capacity of 650 million cubic metres of water, and the pipeline project is a major component of the NMZWP, which was first mooted in 1912 but has failed to take off under previous successive administrations.

The project has three phases – the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, the construction of a pipeline from the dam to Bulawayo and another pipeline which will draw water from the Zambezi River.-@themkhust