When water abounds, but thiret rules

When water abounds, but thirst rules

From Thupeyo Muleya in BEITBRIDGE

OVER the past three decades it has been a case of "so near yet so far" for the border town of Beitbridge that despite sitting on the banks of the great Limpopo River and boasting one of the country’s biggest dams, Zhovhe, has had perennial water shortages.

Zhovhe Dam is located 63km west of the town along Umzingwane River and currently holds 133 cubic metres of water while the town lies within a kilometre of the Limpopo River.

Sadly, the town has never been able to take advantage of its proximity to these two water bodies to solve its water problems and supplement the little that comes from Zinwa’s water treatment plant which only operates on emergency basis.

According to the 2002 population census, the town had a population of 22 387 and an estimated 2 570 houses in formal settlements (primarily for Government officials and middle-level private sector staff) and 3 000 in informal settlements.

This number has since increased due to the town’s proximity to South Africa and the hive of economic and commercial activities typical of most ports of entry in Sub Saharan Africa.

The population naturally started ballooning following the construction of the Alfred Beit-Bridge in 1929 and the New Limpopo Bridge in 1995.

Beitbridge Town is a cauldron of many different cultures as it is frequented by people from many countries, with at least 25 000 of them passing through its entry and exit points daily.

Nearly 4 000 heavy trucks also use the border post everyday.

According to the Beitbridge Business Association (BBA) chairman, Mr Salatiel Roy Muleya, the town’s water woes were compounded by Zinwa’s unwillingness to incorporate the local stakeholders in running the town’s water affairs.

"The first point to note is that there is no authoritative body willing to discuss the water issue with us. The parastatal, Zinwa has created an environment where the private sector cannot contribute towards addressing our challenges.

"At one point we secured water treatment chemicals from South Africa but were frustrated by the organisation’s bureaucracy in dealing with the matter.

The association therefore urges Zinwa to incorporate the local stakeholders in running the water affairs, as there is a lot of infrastructure and manpower to keep the town awash with water, he added.

Muleya strongly feels that as long as the residents are not given room to participate in solving the water problems, they (problems) are bound to continue unabated.

The redeeming fact, he added, is that the private sector was ready to assist Zinwa in addressing the water challenges.

He also noted with concern the pace at which the upgrading of the town’s water treatment plant and the construction of the 63-kilometre Zhovhe water canal is progressing.

Everything is going at a snail’s pace, he concluded.

Beitbridge district falls under the Zinwa Umzingwane catchment area, which is administered from Bulawayo and needs a total of 15000 cubic metres of water per day.

"It boggles the mind why our taps run dry yet we have the Limpopo River just a kilometre away and the Zhovhe Dam in our district.

"There is an urgent need for the Government to intervene in our situation because we are operating on an emergency arrangement.

"We do not have a single water reservoir to harness treated water and that water is pumped straight to the consumer. Out of the 15 000 cubic metres that the town needs daily, Zinwa is pumping a third of the amount," said Muleya.

Last year, the Beitbridge community had verbal wars with Zinwa over astronomical water bills yet they were failing to deliver.

They even took people to court only to withdraw the lawsuit after the intervention of the Minister of Water Resources and Infrastructure Development, Sam Sipepa Nkomo.

Muleya added that when the current water treatment plant was constructed, it was meant for less than 20 000 people.

On a sad note, the continued water problems have also contributed to the rapid spread of waterborne diseases chief among them, cholera with at least 5 000 cases reported around Beitbridge in 2008, with 540 people dying from the epidemic.

The first case was reported on November 15, 2008, but the disease rapidly spread across the town.

During the cholera epidemic, the town had to rely on water in bowsers from South Africa courtesy of the 1996 twining agreement between Beitbridge and Musina municipalities.

It is understood that a total of US$3 million would be needed to upgrade the current water treatment plant and the sewer reticulation facilities in the border town.

Efforts to get a comment from Zinwa of the goings on in Beitbridge this week were in vein.

The Matabeleland South Provincial Irrigation Officer, Tamuka Moyo was quoted in recent media reports saying the construction of the 63 km water canal from Zhovhe dam to Beitbridge town would chew a total of US$18 million.

He said a feasibility study and project proposal had already been completed adding that they were yet to receive funds to kick-start the project.

The Zhovhe project was initiated in 1996 following the dam construction and to date it has not taken off due to lack of funding.

"Upon completion the project is expected to benefit resettlement and commercial farmers and end the water problems dogging the town.

"Currently farmers in the district rely on sand abstraction, a method of sucking water from the river and manage to get 20 percent of the water for irrigation purposes while 80 percent is wasted hence the need for a canal which is efficient and reliable," he explained.

Additionally, Moyo indicated that they had since submitted the relevant papers to Government and other departments and are yet to get a response.

"We are therefore appealing through the Government, for assistance to start the project as the Zhovhe Dam has the capacity to irrigate a total of 2520 hectares of communal, resettlement and commercial farmers.

"Furthermore the dam has the capacity to carry 133 million cubic metres of water and is capable of giving a safe yield of 42 million cubic meters." said Moyo.

Moyo said Beitbridge district falls under agricultural natural farming region five, which is suitable for cattle ranching and irrigation crop farming.

He further added that Zhovhe dam was under utilized as it could create the opportunity for farmers and residents alike to use the canal water to irrigate the land for both commercial and domestic purposes and feed the nation.

"You will realise that Beitbridge is a dry area whose rainfall pattern is erratic and the construction of the canal would go a long way in addressing food security and in the process create employment opportunities for many people", he said.

Moyo said construction of the canal would be done in phases and the first phase would cover 10 kilometres, which would benefit resettlement farmers in Bishopstone and Cawood Estates.

The second, third and final phases would have secondary canals meant to assist farmers along the way up to the Beitbridge town.

"We had planned to phase the whole project into three. In fact the whole idea is to benefit farmers resettled along the map of the canal until we get to the Beitbridge town", he added.

In previous attempts the slow progress in implementing the project has been attributed to the bureaucratic bungling by the state procurement board.

In 2004 Vice President Cde Joice Mujuru had to order the immediate release of ZWD250 billion meant for the project during her tour of Beitbridge district to audit progress on the agrarian reforms and capital projects.

It remains to be seen whether anything will be done to harness the abundant water resources around the district.

Published by; The Herald, 27 May 2010
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