More than 3,600 families in Chivi District could be forced to relocate as the government prepares to roll out the long-awaited Tugwi Mukosi Master Plan, which outlines major development projects around Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam.
According to
the draft master plan released recently and is open to public scrutiny for a
three-month period, 3,652 households in the Chivi and Masvingo districts areas
are expected to be directly affected, most likely through displacement.
This potential
wave of displacements comes in addition to the approximately 3,300 families who
were displaced a decade ago and were relocated to Chingwizi in Mwenezi after
flooding from the dam inundated the Tugwi Mukosi basin.
“For Chivi
District, the concerned wards have a population of 38,644 while for Masvingo
Rural District they have a population of 35,422. However, there are about 3,652
households which are more likely to be directly affected by the development in
the Tugwi Mukosi development zone. Most of these households will be displaced,”
reads part of the draft plan.
Masvingo
Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa
however told TellZim News that displacement was the last resort as the
government would want to reorganize the affected families in their communities.
“The main
thrust of the government is on reorganization or rearrangement for affected
families. Displacement would be a last resort. Government has a clear policy on
the relocation of people affected by government programmes,” said Dr
Pazvakavambwa.
The Tugwi
Mukosi Master Plan lays the foundation for infrastructural, agricultural,
tourism and urban development around the dam, which was commissioned in 2017.
Government has long touted the area as a future economic hub for the southern
region.
The memory of
the previous displacements in 2014 remain fresh for many in the region. Then,
families were hurriedly evacuated as dam waters rose, and many of them still
struggle with inadequate infrastructure and limited access to services in their
resettlement areas including access to education.
The master plan
includes proposals for irrigation schemes, tourism lodges, fishery projects,
urban housing development, and road upgrades, all aimed at turning the dam’s
catchment into a multi-use economic zone. TellZimNews
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