Manicaland requires over $700 000 for dam rehab
Kenneth Matimaire Own Correspondent
MUTARE — Manicaland Province requires $783 000 to rehabilitate seven dams across the province, a Government official has said.
Manicaland Provincial Administrator Edgar Seenza said the dams earmarked for rehabilitation include Osborne ($450 000), Rusape ($92 000), Ruti ($53 000), Middle Sabi ($52 000) and Bangazaan ($43 000).
Seenza said the exercise will run parallel with weir repairs and construction.
A total of 15 weirs and two dams are under various levels of construction and are between 20 percent and 100 percent complete.
“We have 15 weirs that are under construction in Mutare, Chimanimani, Buhera, Mutasa and Makoni. Some are in their early stages while others are already at completion level. As far as dam construction is concerned in Manicaland, we have one in Macheke, which is called Causeway Dam, under Makoni District. It is at 48 percent complete. We also have Marowa Nyathi in Buhera, which is percent complete. It is funded under the Public Sector Investment Partnership. We also have a lot of similar projects in the pipeline.
“We have several other weir and dam projects in the pipeline. But our policy now is that we want to talk about things that we are working on or already doing. We are migrating from the culture of talking about what we plan to do and focusing on what is on the ground. We will talk about future projects only when they are work in progress,” said Seenza.
The development comes at a time when Treasury approved an $80 million budget allocation to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate.
The funds are meant for the construction and rehabilitation of dams and weirs.
Government has taken its stance to harness water bodies as part of efforts to improve yields under irrigation.