Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline up and running

By The NewsDay | Dec. 17, 2012 | 2 Min read

BULAWAYO residents heaved a sigh of relief over the weekend after engineers finally broke the jinx that had stalled the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane project for several months

BULAWAYO residents heaved a sigh of relief over the weekend after engineers finally broke the jinx that had stalled the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane project for several months and started pumping water through the pipeline into the city’s reservoirs.

Report By Nduduzo Tshuma Staff Reporter

Water Resources Development and Management minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo confirmed the development yesterday, adding by Saturday afternoon, 13 megalitres had been pumped into the city’s waterworks.

“I thank God for this. This is His (God’s) doing and at last one problem has been solved,” said Nkomo. “Now my focus is on fixing other problems of getting water to Bulawayo like the repair of boreholes in the aquifer, Epping Forest and drawing 10 megalitres from Khami Dam to be used for industrial purposes.”

He said he had to hire engineers from Tokwe-Murkosi Dam and a Bulawayo electrical company to complete the project after AC Controls which had won the tender failed to link the water pumps and the generators used to power the pumps.

“We had to get electrical engineers from Salin, those who were doing the Tokwe-Murkosi Dam. They have been there for a week, but those guys (AC) were refusing to hand over. They were not co-operating,” Nkomo said.

After AC Controls failed to connect the generators to the pumps, Nkomo last week hired a Bulawayo firm, Tendor Electronic Engineers, engineers from Tokwe-Murkosi Dam and a specialist from Pakistan to complete the last phase which had stalled the project for more than a month.

The Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline project is expected to provide the city with an extra 17 000 cubic metres of water daily to cushion Bulawayo from perennial water shortages.