The Mtshabezi-Umzingwane Dam link – a medium-term project meant to ease Bulawayo’s water woes – is set to be completed in December, the city’s mayor, Thaba Moyo, has said.
Bulawayo has faces perennial water shortages that have seen some suburbs in the city going for weeks without water and industries operating below capacity.
Moyo made the announcement on the project on Sunday at a service delivery conference organised by the Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Grounds in the city.
“With the current progress being made we are looking at a situation where if there are no hitches, the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane link will be commissioned in December,” said Moyo.
“If that happens, we can count that as an additional dam for Bulawayo.”
Moyo said Bulawayo had a lot of water, but the problem was harnessing it.
“We need to have had at least three new dams by now considering the growing population of the city.”
The mayor, however, said it was government responsibility to build dams.
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“The policy now is that government is responsible for building dams and we constantly engage them to look into the issue,” said Moyo.
The city’s population is around 1,5 million and the last dam to be built, Insiza, was commissioned in 1976.
The city needs a new dam every 10 years to meet growing demand.
Moyo said the biggest challenge the local authority had was that of revenue collection.
“Our greatest challenge as council is that of revenue collection and we continue to encourage residents to come forward and engage us on payment arrangements,” he said.
The local authority is currently owed $68 million by residents and businesses.
Domestic consumers owe $38 million while the commercial sector owes $11 million. Industry owes $13 million and government institutions owe $5 million.
