PRIME MINISTER Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday cancelled a tour of the Gwayi-Shangani dam in Matabeleland North after Water Resources Development minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo was hospitalised.
Report by Nduduzo Tshuma
Announcing the cancellation of Tsvangirai’s tour at around 1pm, permanent secretary in the ministry Ringson Chitsiko said Sipepa Nkomo was rushed to hospital in Harare “after eating fish”.
“Yesterday (Wednesday) evening the minister was having dinner at his house and he reacted after eating fish so he had to be rushed to the hospital,” he said.
Last night, an official in the ministry said the minister had since been discharged and would attend World Water Day commemorations at Chinotimba Stadium in Victoria Falls today.
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe will be the guest of honour at the event.
Meanwhile, the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, a major component of the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP) is expected to start in May.
Speaking at the dam site, resident engineer Morgan Ncube said they had done all the excavation work for the dam wall, outlets and valve house as well as access roads and a quarry site.
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“The main works will be determined by the flow of the (Gwayi) river,” he said.
“Now there is still too much water and we think by May it will have subsided.”
Speaking during the same meeting, Chitsiko said when the project is completed, it would not only solve Bulawayo’s water problems, but also those of other communities in the Matabeleland region.
“When you come to a place like this, you see how bright the future of a nation could be,” he said.
“This is the first component of a programme that ends tomorrow (today) when we celebrate the World Water Day commemorated internationally . . . The Gwayi-Shangani Dam project is an example that the Zimbabwean government is doing something major in terms of water supply.
“Once completed, things will not be the same, there will be a 320km green belt and people’s lives will change for the better.”
The project to draw water from the Zambezi River to supply Bulawayo was first mooted in 1912 and successive governments shelved it because of the huge costs involved.
It is estimated that it will cost $1,2 billion.
