Water Resources Development and Management Minister Sipepa Nkomo

Private contractors engaged by the Government in 2010 are finalising arrangements to commence construction of the Kunzvi dam, touted as the panacea to Harare's perennial water problems, a cabinet Minister has said.

The Government concluded a US$370 million public private partnership (PPP) in 2010 with a consortium of local, regional and international companies to construct the dam.

A special purpose vehicle, Kunzvi Water Development Corporation (KWDC) was established to implement the project under a Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement.

The corporation includes the government, Locan Holdings, Swede Water Limited, Okada Group from Nigeria and Vince Group of France.

Bigen Africa Consulting Engineers, BKS Group and Dycon from South Africa are the technical partners.

The engineering and financial advisory team consists of CBZ Bank Limited, Brian Colquhoun, SDP Africa, Deloitte and Finesse Financial Services.

Last year the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding which gave the firm the green light to begin construction.

Water Resources Development and Management Minister Sipepa Nkomo said contractors were still pulling together their financial resources.

"We have not yet set any actual dates as yet to commence construction because there are a few lose ends to be tied," he said.

"When we closed for Christmas they assured me that there is a lot of progress in putting together the funds."

Minister Nkomo however maintained that construction would begin this year.

"It will have to be this year we can no longer afford to wait," Nkomo said.

The project is estimated to cost at least US$370 million, of which US$70 million is for construction of the dam and the other US$300 million for pump stations, reservoirs, water treatment works, conveyance and connections to the existing City of Harare network.

The Kunzvi Dam site is located 67 km north east of Harare near Juru Growth Point on the Nyaguwi River.

Plans to construct Kunzvi Dam, which when complete will carry 158.4 million cubic meters and produce 250 000 cubic meters of water daily, were mooted 30 years ago but have been hampered by lack of funding.

While Harare, thanks to recycling of treated waste water back to its supply dams, has enjoyed adequate raw water supplies for several years now, the treatment works, last extended in the early 1990s, are inadequate to supply the city and its satellite towns at full demand.