BULAWAYO-BASED water organisation Alliance of Matabeleland and National Zambezi Initiative (Amanzi) Trust is mulling to engage the government over the water crisis bedevilling the city.
The organisation’s objective is to lobby for water and developmental projects in the Matabeleland region.
Amanzi Trust chairperson Sanpoulus Maplanka told Southern Eye that they have decided to resume the Zambezi Water4Bulawayo initiative through engaging the Bulawayo City Council (BCC), the government and other stakeholders on alleviating the water situation.
“In 2020, we successfully ran a campaign called Zambezi Water4Bulawayo and we were promised and assured that the Shangani Dam and the pipe to Bulawayo will be complete by now. However the situation remains unchanged,” Maplanka said.
“There is a need for us to re-engage and to try and help the situation the best way we can. As a result, we have decided to restart the Zambezi Water4Bulawayo initiative to see how we can work with the city council, the government and other stakeholders.”
Maplanka revealed that they initially wanted to construct the Gwayi-Shangani Dam project after getting funding from various organisations, but were stopped by the government.
“We were assured by the government that they had everything in place to embark on the project and complete it by 2023,” he said.
“Tenders were made and we bid for them, but unfortunately, we did not succeed. It was given to the Chinese. We are now concerned about the slow progress. That is why we need to re-engage.”
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