BY OBERT SIAMILANDU COVID-19 has delayed progress on the Kariba Dam rehabilitation project as returning expatriates and other local workers have to be quarantined each time they were diagnosed positive.
In a statement yesterday, Zambezi River Authority chief executive officer Munyaradzi Munodawafa said: “The impacts include loss of time due to returning expatriates and other local employees having to be quarantined each time they were diagnosed positive.”
He said the COVID-19 pandemic also led to tightening of border restrictions, resulting in traffic congestion which delayed timely delivery of project equipment.
“These disruptions resulted in both time and cost overruns against the project baseline schedule and budget respectively,” Munodawafa said, adding that to mitigate the challenges being faced, ZRA had taken measures, including programme optimisation through night shifts.
The Kariba Dam rehabilitation project involves the rehabilitation of the Kariba Dam infrastructure by reshaping the plunge pool and rehabilitating the spillway.
It is being funded by the European Union, World Bank, African Development Bank, and the government of Sweden and Zambezi River Authority on behalf of the governments of Zimbabwe and Zambia through a combination of grants and loans.
The rehabilitation is expected to be completed in 2025.
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