shloboe boe
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, smoyo@chronicle.co.zw
CONSTRUCTION of the massive Lake Gwayi-Tshangani in Matabeleland North Province is expected to resume soon, thanks to a ZWG1 billion allocation in the 2025 national budget to finance the completion of outstanding works.
The State-funded project has reached 72 percent completion, but progress was impeded by limited fiscal space earlier this year.
The Treasury has allocated ZWG700 million for direct dam construction works, while the pipeline project to Bulawayo has been given ZWG282 million.
Despite the drought situation, which required the reconfiguration of Government plans to ensure no one goes hungry, the Government remains committed to pushing the project to its finality.
In the 2025 national budget, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, has prioritised investments in water, sanitation, and hygiene programmes, recognising their importance in national progress.
The focus this year has been on sustaining the ongoing works for dam projects and water supply schemes, including interventions under the Presidential Borehole Drilling Programme.
“In line with the Public Sector Investment Plan, the 2025 National Budget will prioritise dams nearing completion, such as Gwayi-Tshangani and Kunzvi dams and will encompass conveyancing infrastructure development to the respective cities of Bulawayo and Harare, which continue to face water supply challenges,” said Prof Ncube.
Commenting on the budget allocation, Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister, Richard Moyo, said it was exciting that works will now resume and hoped the project will be completed soon for it to start impacting livelihoods.
“We are excited that the minister allocated special funds for this life-changing project, which makes us confident that by the first or second quarter of 2025, construction work will have been wrapped up,” he said.
“But it all depends on when these funds will be disbursed. Disbursement of the money is the most critical part.”
Minister Moyo said the attention given to the dam by the Second Republic was a clear testimony that President Mnangagwa is walking the talk on transforming livelihoods and fulfilling his promises.
In October, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) director for engineering and hydrological services, Engineer Takudza Makwangudze, told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development during a tour of the construction site that only US$48 million was needed to ensure completion of works next year.
He said a monthly disbursement of US$4 million was ideal so that the contractor could do two metres of the wall every month.
The Second Republic is undertaking flagship infrastructure projects to foster inclusive economic transformation.
The Lake Gwayi-Tshangani project is one such mammoth undertaking.
Zinwa, in partnership with Chinese contractor, China Water and Electric Corporation, is constructing the concrete gravity arch dam.
The project forms part of the century-old national Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project that past administrations failed to implement.
To date, only 39 metres of the required 72 metres of the dam wall has been constructed.
When completed, the dam will have a gross capacity of 650 million cubic metres, making it the third largest inland dam after Tugwi Mukosi and Lake Mutirikwi.
Lake Gwayi-Tshangani is situated about 6,5km from the confluence of Gwayi and Shangani rivers and is expected to provide a reliable water supply to Bulawayo for the next 80 years.
This will allow the province to wean off some of its supply dams in Matabeleland South to cater to developmental projects in the region.
Apart from supplying water to Bulawayo, the lake will also provide water for at least 10 000 hectares of land in the neighbouring districts of Binga, Hwange, and Lupane, as well as communities that reside along the pipeline from Gwayi to Bulawayo.
The Lake Gwayi-Tshangani project is expected to spark rural industrialisation in the Matabeleland region where communities will have access to clean water and electricity to power local institutions.
The Government aims to increase the proportion of people with access to potable water from 78 percent to 90 percent by next year as guided by the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
