The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
Construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam has passed the 50 percent mark, with about 40 metres built so far against a target of 72 metres.
It is now scheduled for completion in June next year.
The initial target was December this year.
Construction, which was suspended at some point during the course of the year, will also be halted as the rainy season gets into full swing.
“While we have lost time during the period the project was suspended, progress made this year is the most notable ever recorded since the inception of the project.
“Twenty metres out of the completed 39 meters were done during the course of this year,” Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said.
Lake Gwayi-Shangani is part of the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project, an idea conceived over a century ago and has only been turned into reality by the Second Republic.
Completion of the massive water body will transform the Matabeleland region as irrigation projects will be established along the pipeline, thereby turning the area into a green belt.
Already, the Government has identified 10 000 hectares to be put under irrigation along the pipeline.
The completion of the project will also see the Government constructing a 10-megawatt power station at the massive dam.
Mrs Munyonga also revealed that water levels in some of the country’s major dams had increased following the rains that have fallen this month.
In a statement, Mrs Munyonga
said: “Some of the dams that have recorded positive inflows so far include Insukamini, Biri, Ngwenya, Manyame, Tuli Makwe, Chimwe, Mundi-Mataga, Nyamafufu, Mushandike, Padre’s Pool, Roswa, Wenimbi, Odzani, Chikomba, Claw, Ngezi, Lower Zivagwe and Bangazaan.”
The improvements in the dam levels point to better raw water security for the country’s urban areas and improved water availability for the 2022/2023 cropping season.
