Story by Mhlomuli Ncube
Government has availed over US$200 million in the Gwayi-Shangani Lake Project whose magnitude is set to transform lives in the southern part of the country.
The massive project will have a positive bearing on millions of livelihoods, with a greenbelt set to be established around the water source.
Standing at 39 metres, the dam wall is set to receive a further US$44 million from the Treasury that will go towards the ultimate goal of water retention by the 2025-26 season.
There is clarity on the Vision 2030 perspective which is to reap maximum benefits for citizens.
“As ZINWA we understand the mandate of this project. The dam is not the project. The project is its deliverables which are in line with Vision 2030. We want to see how the impounding of water will bring in provisions through projects that will improve livelihoods,” said ZINWA Acting chief executive officer, Eng Takudza Makwangudze.
Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka said, “This is a Vision 2030 all-encompassing project. It speaks to empowerment, water provision, electricity generation and massive Irrigation. It’s about changing lives of communities in Matebeleland North, Bulawayo and Matebeleland South.”
Solving Bulawayo’s perennial water woes, creating an agriculture greenbelt through irrigation and enabling other downstream industries like tourism are some of the envisaged benefits of the project as the country journeys towards an Upper Middle Income Society by 2030.
