By Leonard Ncube
THE GOVERNMENT has
identified land where a
The coming in of Batoka
City will be a major milestone and fits well with the broader Matabeleland
North development, which has in the recent past become an economic epicenter in
the country following designation of Victoria Falls as a Special Economic Zone,
and eventual conferment of city status to the municipality.
Zambezi River Authority
(ZRA) jointly owned by the two governments is the implementing agent and in
2019 chose General Electric and Power Corporation of China to build the power
plant, about 50km downstream from Victoria Falls City.
A steering council of
ministers comprising Ministries of Finance and Energy from both countries was
set up to spearhead the project, which was first planned in 1992 but was
delayed by an impasse over colonial era debts and community resistance.
Work had been scheduled to
start in 2020 but was delayed because of the adverse effects of coronavirus.
However, public
consultations on the environmental disclosure have been completed and inputs
submitted to the relevant authority and work is underway to start
pre-construction work for the new
Communities around the
Batoka project finally agreed to the project after extensive consultation by
ZRA and both governments. About 4 000 direct plus 6 000 indirect jobs are set
to be created.
Eng Magombo said the land
has been secured and authorities from Hwange Rural District Council, Zimbabwe
Power Company and Ministry of Local Government and Public Works are on the
ground making preparatory work.
She, however, could not
reveal the exact location of the land and its size.
"There is a lot of
work that is being done in terms of the environmental disclosure after the
finalization of the Environmental Impact Assessment," she said.
"Consultations were done during the Covid-19 lockdown period and all the
input from various stakeholders has been received.
"But there is also
the issue of land for the project as you are aware last year
"ZPC together with
Hwange RDC and Local Government Ministry are looking at coming up with a plan
in terms of how the whole city will then be planned and there is a lot of work,
which is already going on into that part of the programme," said Eng
Magombo.
She said over and above
other developments, there has been appointment of various advisers with the
African Legal Support providing some of the advice on evaluation of documents,
which have been submitted by the contractor.
The two governments have
also appointed a technical advisor in an effort to ensure that there are no
grey areas.
"There is a lot of
work going on in terms of finalizing preparation and structuring of the
project, which is being done between ZRA as the main coordinator and
implementing agent of both governments and steering committee comprising both
ministries of energy and finance and we believe that in the next quarter we
will be announcing when the ground-breaking and other milestones will be
achieved," she said.
Batoka Dam wall will be
175m high after it was reduced as a result of concerns by tour operators
particularly rafting companies in
The power plant is
expected to take about five years to complete but electricity generation should
start in the third year.
The
Several projects, which
had been in limbo have been reactivated and in various stages of completion.
Among these are the giant Gwayi-Shangani Dam, Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme,
Hwange Power Station' units 7 and 8 expansion, Lupane Provincial Hospital and
Elitsheni Government Complex.
The
The establishment of
Read the original article on The Herald. (07/05/21)
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