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George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
Government will soon engage Zimbabwe Bio Energy (ZBE) over modalities of constructing a pipeline that will ease crippling water shortages affecting 3 000 Tugwi-Mukosi flood victims at Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi. The families were relocated from the flooded Tugwi-Mukosi basin four years ago and allocated permanent plots at Nuanetsi, where they are grappling with severe water shortages.

Some of the families have been sourcing water from nearby sugar cane irrigation canals, raising the spectre of water-borne diseases such as cholera.

Plans were afoot to supply water to the Nuanetsi families from the idle water purification plant at Chingwizi that was commissioned in 2014.

Masvingo provincial medical director Dr Amadeus Shamu said they would soon engage ZBE and other stakeholders over plans to build a new pipeline to ease water woes at Nuanetsi.

ZBE owns the Nuanetsi Ranch, where the private company operates thriving wildlife, livestock and crocodile businesses.

“We will soon be meeting with other stakeholders to find a lasting solution to water problems at Chingwizi and in particular we will soon be engaging ZBE to see how best we can build the water pipeline to supply relocated families at Nuanetsi with water,” said Dr Shamu.

“In the next couple of weeks, we expect to have covered some ground because we want our people to have improved access to water.”

Dr Shamu said Government remained committed to improving the living standards of the families at Nuanetsi.

Ensuring regular water supplies to the Nuanetsi families will be easy considering the existence of a 95 cubic metres water purification tank and attendant pumping infrastructure that is lying idle at Chingwizi.

The tank, which can purify water pumped from the nearby Runde River, was built at a cost of $100 000 by Batanai HIV Services Organisation (Bhaso) and Oxfam to provide clean water to Tugwi-Mukosi flood victims when they were staying at Chingwizi temporary camp.

The investment is now lying idle after relocation of the flood victims to spacious permanent plots at Nuanetsi, where existing boreholes can hardly produce water owing to depletion of the water table caused by prolonged dryness.

Government has been slowly improving infrastructure for families at Nuanetsi, which now boast of a modern clinic and several schools.

The clinic was built by Zimbabwe Defence Forces artisans with funding from the National AIDS Council.