Midlands Correspondent
Redcliff Municipality has entered into a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) deal with a Hungarian Company Phoenix (Pvt) Ltd for the construction of the $15 million water and sewer reticulation project that will see the local authority drawing water from Kektus Dam.

If successful, Redcliff will wean itself from its major supplier of water, Kwekwe City Council. The two local authorities have been at loggerheads with Kwekwe City Council intermittently disconnecting water to Redcliff over a $2 million debt.

Redcliff has since identified Kektus Dam as an alternative source of water and have awarded a tender to Phoenix to undertake the project which is expected to cost more than $15 million.

In an interview, Redcliff deputy mayor, councillor Vincent Masiiwa said Phoenix was now doing feasibility studies. Clr Masiiwa said if the deal materialises, Phoenix will install water pumps at the dam, construct a water treatment plant, lay pipes and set up other supporting infrastructure.

“We have awarded a tender to Hungarian Company Phoenix to help us draw water from Kektus Dam. The company is doing feasibility studies.

“If we reach an agreement the company will start the project soon. We have had perennial water challenges emanating from our failure to settle our debt with Kwekwe City Council in unpaid water bills.

“Before the closure of Zisco we used to generate more than $600 000 a month, but our revenue had dropped drastically by 85 percent.

“We are now getting around $30 000 a month,” he said.

Redcliff Municipality recently made an undertaking to pay Kwekwe City Council $40 000 a month until they clear the debt.

However, it failed to honour its commitments resulting in Kwekwe City Council disconnecting water to the town.

Redcliff has three residential areas Redcliff, Rutendo and Torwood with an estimated population of about 50 000 people.

Torwood, which has shared ablution facilities, was once hit by a massive tapeworm outbreak that affected over 3 000 people, who were forced to draw water from unclean and unsafe sources.

Two of the boreholes in the Zisco compound had to be decommissioned after its water was discovered to be contaminated by chemicals due to the iron deposits in the area.

Most people in Torwood are unemployed and rely on peace jobs as the majority were former Zisco employees who were retrenched after the steel giant stopped operating.

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