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Kariba Dam

Patrick Chitumba in Livingstone, Zambia
REHABILITATION work at the Kariba Dam wall will commence on November 1, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, Mr Partson Mbiriri, said yesterday.

In an interview during a media tour here, Mr Mbiriri said contrary to negative media reports that the dam wall was about to collapse, contractors would be working on the plunge pool which was almost eating into the dam wall.

“The contractors have been identified and should start the rehabilitation of the plunge pool on the dam wall. The plunge pool, because of the force of the water falling and the nature of the rocks, had been eating into the dam wall. So they are going to put a slope so that when the water falls, it flows away from the dam wall,” he said.

The process, Mr Mbiriri said, had been slow because they were dealing with four institutions to ensure that the work starts.

He also said Government was in the process of looking for about $500 million to finance the rehabilitation of Hwange 7 and 8 units.

Mr Mbiriri said some Chinese financiers had shown willingness to provide resources for the project.

@pchitumba1