KEY POINTS
- Hidrotehnika commits to completing the Muda-Nyatsime Dam on time.
- Bureaucratic delays have stalled progress on the $350M project.
- The dam will provide water to Chitungwiza and create local jobs.
According to NewsDay Weekender, a Tunisian business that put in an unsolicited proposal to construct and transfer the $350 million Muda-Nyatsime Dam and treatment works—a project meant to address Chitungwiza’s water crisis—has pledged to finish.
Tunisian company vows to finish Muda-Nyatsime Dam project
Hristov Vladan, the CEO of Hidrotehnika Overseas, addressed concerns regarding delays in an interview, stating that the company was founded as a special-purpose corporation to supply turnkey infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa. However, government bureaucratic bottlenecks are causing delays in the $350 million Muda-Nyatsime Dam’s construction.
Following a water conference and an international tender to construct roughly 23 dams throughout Zimbabwe in 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, and Water Resources authorised the project more than a year ago.
To supply water to Chitungwiza, the nearby communities, and farmland, Vladan assured NewsDay Weekender that the consortium would see to it that the Muda-Nyatsime Dam project was finished.
“The Zimbabwe National Water Authority planned the construction of the Muda and Nyatsime dams in 1988, which would have the capacity to supply water to all of Chitungwiza,” Vladan stated. “We think that because many capital markets are hesitant to make long-term investments in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe has lagged behind other African nations in infrastructure maintenance.”
He also stated that Hidrotehnika considers Zimbabwe to be an “all-weather friend” and that the required financing agreements and construction contracts are with the appropriate authorities, such as the ministries of Finance and Agriculture, the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ), and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA).
“We will soon meet to sign agreements, and we are confident that all necessary processes are finished,” Vladan stated.
Hidrotehnika’s water project promises jobs and fast timelines
Newsday stated that Hidrotehnika had already visited ZINWA in 2016 to offer funding for general water infrastructure projects before the contract process. “Given the urgency of the water crisis, we have committed to very short construction timelines,” he stated.
Additionally, Vladan stressed that hundreds of jobs would be created for the locale in Chitungwiza during the three-and-a-half-year construction phase.
He expressed gratitude to the Zimbabwean government and President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the chance to serve the nation. Since 1946, Hidrotehnika has constructed over 60 sizable dams worldwide, including projects in Algeria, Zambia, The Gambia, and Tunisia.
Hidrotehnika pledged to raise $350 million for the Muda-Nyatsime Dam project during a meeting with Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube in 2022. Chitungwiza, Beatrice, and the surrounding industry will receive water from the dam.
After failing to provide for the water needs of the residents, the Chitungwiza Municipality recently demanded that the government proclaim a state of disaster.
