ILLEGAL gold mining activities are hindering rainwater from flowing into Mzingwane Dam and deterring the water body from contributing to combating the Bulawayo City water challenges, mayor David Coltart has said.
Coltart made the remarks on Sunday during a state of the city address at Nkulumane Hall in ward 22. He said he did not understand how all dams’ water levels had only increased by 4% when the city experienced a lot of rainfall.
Coltart said the city’s dams remained low despite the heavy rains that were experienced in the region.
“We have to sort out the water situation, we have a major problem with our dams with all the rain that we have had these last few months. Our dams since yesterday were still sitting at 28%. With all this rain our dams have only gone up by 4%,” Coltart said.
“Last Saturday I rode to Mzingwane Dam to go and see for myself what’s happening. I was shocked because I rode 40km and I didn’t even see one stream flowing, not one after all that rain. Why? Illegal gold panning! They have dug up our rivers.”
He said city fathers were focusing on constructing a dam that was proposed in the 1990s.
“It is a huge problem, therefore, we have to deal with that but our dams are not sufficient. As council we are now focused on building the Glass Block Dam.
“In December I went to Morocco to the African Development Bank. We had a very constructive meeting to try and raise the US$99,9 milion to build it up,” Coltart said.
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He said the city was close to signing the agreements it needed to build Glass Block Dam, adding that the project would not be as expensive as the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, which was a long-term project.
“We are also planning to build a 32km pipeline from Glass to Ncema station. When we do that it is going to change the water situation, not overnight, but it’s going to take two years to build.
“We all need to be patient. Gwayi-Shangani is fine, but it is long term and to build that 257km pipeline to Bulawayo needs a lot of money, it costs a very small amount to build Glass Block Dam,” Coltart said.
