The Sunday Mail
Lincoln Towindo —
The Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe will mobilise US$300 million for construction of a dam that will exclusively supply water to Chitungwiza’s 1,6 million-strong population. Local construction and civil engineering company Sesani Projects will build the dam and overhaul the existing water distribution network.
Chitungwiza Town Council will thereafter introduce prepaid meters, giving residents a cumulative 3 000 litres of free water monthly as a buffer when they run out of funds. Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Deputy Minister Christopher Chingosho told the National Assembly last week, “Chitungwiza Municipality is seized with the development of a comprehensive water supply strategy for the municipality, including Chitungwiza North.
“I am glad to inform this august House that the (municipality) has entered into a public-private-partnership arrangement with Sesani (Pvt) Ltd to ease the water crisis in the first implementation phase.
“To date, a memorandum of understanding between Chitungwiza municipality and Sesani has been signed.
“Following the signing of the MOU, IDBZ has come on board as the fundraiser of the water project.”
Deputy Minister Chingosho also said, “The project will be divided into two phases to make the water tariffs affordable.
“Phase 1 will focus on upgrading existing water and sanitation infrastructure to the tune of US$82 million.
“Deloitte and Touche were hired for purposes of financial modelling, and they volunteered to work for free until financial closure.
“In future, Deloitte and Touche will be the financial advisor for Chitungwiza municipality once the project commences.
“Phase 2 involves improving raw water security at Prince Edward Treatment Plant by constructing Muda Dam which is 40 km from Chitungwiza at a cost of US$215 million.
“The water and sanitation project has been commercialised, and the municipality will be able to give about 3 000 litres of free water to residents every month.
“Under the project, the pre-payment system will be introduced for sustainability purposes.”
University of Zimbabwe Rural and Urban Planning lecturer Mr Nyasha Mutsindikwa told The Sunday Mail that the initiative was a sustainable solution to Chitungwiza’s water problems.
“We all know that Chitungwiza, like other local authorities, is failing to provide enough potable water for its residents.
“However, this deal is a good start in terms of ending the problem.
“There is need, however, to address the immediate water shortages by, for instance, drilling boreholes.
“Authorities need to work with development partners to drill more boreholes.”
Chitungwiza relies on Harare for drinking water, but supplies have been dwindling over the months as the capital refurbishes its main treatment plant – Morton Jaffray Water Works. The town needs at least 30 mega-litres of water daily.
