An aerial view of the Gway Shangani dam wall construction site

Council officials in Bulawayo have said there are no clear timelines on the completion of the Gwayi-Shangani dam project, which is touted as the long term solution to the water challenges affecting Bulawayo and the Matabeleland region.

Located 245 km from Bulawayo, the Gwayi-Shangani Dam is expected to provide 147 megalitres per day.

Speaking on the Bulawayoโ€™s water crisis at a meeting held virtually, Wednesday, BCC director of engineering services Engineer Simela Dube said funding constraints had slowed down the project.

โ€œSo far funding worth US$200 million was raised but to complete the project that will cost around US$1 billion. We have taken 15 years  to have that dam constructed and it currently stands at 39 percent complete,โ€ he said.

The city engineer said at the last briefing with contractors (China International Water and Electric Corporation), the project was to be completed by December 2021 resources permitting.

โ€œThe pipeline has not been started and needs at least four years to complete, again with resources permitting. The work can be done and if we can raise US$1 billion dedicated to the pipeline,โ€ Dube said.

State media reported that the project was now expected to be completed in December 2022 after it was stalled by the global outbreak of Covid-19.

Eng Dube also highlighted that the city needed practical options to alleviate water shortages as water levels in the cityโ€™s supply dams were declining.

The Gwayi-Shangani Dam is one of the strategic development projects under the water and sanitation cluster and in the 2020 National Budget was allocated ZWL$400 million.

Upon completion, it will be the third-largest inland dam in the country after Tugwi -Mukosi and Lake Mutirikwi in Masvingo.

In previous reports, a Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) resident engineer, Hassan Tobve said feasibility studies indicated that once complete, the Gwayi-Shangani Dam had a net holding capacity of 634 million cubic metres, which is 1,8 times bigger than the capacity of the cityโ€™s six supply dams located in Matabeleland South.

Lulu Brenda Harris is a seasoned senior news reporter at CITE. Harris writes on politics, migration, health, education, environment, conservation and sustainable development. Her work has helped keep the...

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