ZIMBABWE and Mozambique yesterday signed in Mutare the Buzi, Pungwe and Save Tri-Basins Water Project bilateral agreement that is expected to sustain livelihoods of communities in both countries.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

The agreement was signed by Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement minister Perrance Shiri and his Mozambican counterpart Joao Osvaldo Moises Machatine who heads the Public Works, Housing and Water Resources ministry.

Addressing delegates from both countries, Shiri said the two governments were guided by the revised Sadc Protocol on shared Watercourses of 2000.

“It is my singular honour to be with you on this special day where we shall witness the signing ceremony of the Buzi River Basin Bilateral agreement,” he said.

“In managing the three shared river basins, the two governments are guided by the revised Sadc Protocol on Shared Watercourses of 2000, whose objective is to foster closer co-operation for judicious, sustainable and co-ordinated management, protection and utilisation of shared watercourses.”

The event marked the implementation of Buzi, Pungwe and Save (Bupusa) Tri-Basin Project, a joint co-operative effort by Zimbabwe and Mozambique which started in October 2018 with the assistance of the governments of Germany and the United Kingdom through GIZ.

“The objective of the (Bupusa) tri-basin project has been to support a bridging phase to strengthen co-operation and institution building in the Buzi, Pungwe and Save River Basins,” he added.

Machatine said the project will boost agricultural activities as 45 000 hectares were expected to go under irrigation.

“The joint water project is set to unlock co-operation in various developmental sectors and we expect that this project is going to help people,” he said.