Coltart blames bureaucracy for stalled Glass Block Dam project

Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart has expressed frustration over delays to the long-awaited Glass Block Dam project, blaming central government bureaucracy for stalling progress despite significant funding commitments. The Glass Block Dam, to be constructed on the Mzingwane River in Matabeleland South, is regarded as a medium-term intervention to address Bulawayo’s deepening water crisis, which has left residents facing frequent water rationing and shortages in recent years. In a technical report titledGlassblock/Bopoma Dam and Groundwater: Feasibility and Strategic Importance, Bulawayo City Council warned that the city could face a “permanent water deficit by 2040” unless decisive action is taken to expand supply.

The proposed dam is expected to hold about 14 million cubic metres of water and could deliver up to 70 megalitres (ML) per day within three years, at an estimated cost of US$0.90 per cubic metre. Speaking during his keynote address at the Annual National Residents Summit, which began on Thursday in Bulawayo under the themeRe-thinking and Reclaiming the Social Accountability Agenda for Improved Decentralised Service Delivery, Coltart said failure to advance the project was worsening the city’s already critical water situation. “We face three critical issues in relation to water.

Firstly, we have a shortage of raw water. This city has not constructed a new dam since the 1990s. Our engineers have long been aware of this and have planned for it,” he said.

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He said the project was first identified in the 1980s by senior city engineers, including George Mlilo, and that a feasibility study was conducted in 1988. Coltart said efforts to revive the project gained momentum in December 2024, when a delegation comprising the Town Clerk, the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) and the Ministry of Finance presented it at the African Investment Forum hosted by the African Development Bank in Morocco. “We lobbied for US$98m for the construction of Glass Block Dam.

We presented a united front, the city council, a private consortium to construct the dam and the government, represented by ZIDA and the Ministry of Finance. We were one of six projects across Africa to receive a favourable response,” he said. He added that international financiers, including Standard Bank South Africa and the African Development Bank, had indicated they would contribute US$93m towards the total required amount. However, nearly two years later, Coltart said there had been no movement.

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