Chinhoyi seeks investor to fund water project

SEVERAL companies have expressed interest in partnering the Chinhoyi Municipality to address serious water shortages in the town.

The municipality is hunting for an investor to fund the $22 million water augmentation project after severing ties with a contractor who failed to implement the project.

The local authority grew impatient with the contractor who failed to push the project within agreed timelines, resulting in the termination of the agreement.

Chinhoyi Municipality Town Clerk Mr Maxwell Kaitano said they had received numerous enquiries from interested companies willing to undertake the project which will see improved water supplies in Chinhoyi.

“The previous contractor showed lack of capacity to implement the project,” he said.

“Completion of the project will double the town’s water treatment capacity, guaranteeing 24-hour water supplies to the town.”

Chinhoyi expects to attain city status by the end of this year. The project was initially forecast to be completed by June this year, doubling capacity from 16 mega litres per day to 30 mega litres, while the second phase would have boosted capacity by a further 10 mega litres.

In the first agreement, the contractor was expected to supply water meters, expand the town’s water treatment plants and reticulation system.

The scope also includes extending clarifiers and constructing an additional reservoir.

The contractor was expected to install 300 water meters under the pilot phase of the project before covering the whole town.

The $22 million project is expected to supply water to more than 100 000 residents and provide 24-hour running water in high-lying areas such as parts of Mzari, Orange Grove, Cherima and Brundish.

These areas receive limited water supplies, often once a day in the morning and residents had to fill up containers for the day’s use.

New housing projects such as Ruvimbo, Rujeko and Mapako are the most affected as they receive erratic water supplies.

The reticulation system uses the gravitational system, which leaves distribution skewed in favour of low-lying areas where residents get water supplies for nearly 24 hours.