Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique and Zimbabwe have signed a set of agreements for the management of the basins of the Rivers Buzi, Pungué and Save, which both countries share, the Mozambican government said in a statement on Monday.
The agreements [ Agreement on the Establishment of the Buzi, Pungwe and Save Watercourse Commission; Agreement on Co-opereration on the development, management and sustainable utilisation of the Water Resources of the Save Water course; and Agreement for the hosting of the BUPUSA Commission Secretariat].provide for the construction of infrastructure and follow “the principle of rational use of water, improving flood forecasting and warning systems,” and implementing “mechanisms to respond to extreme events,” which are increasingly “more frequent and severe,” it added.
The documents were signed by ministers from the two countries and witnessed by their respective heads of state during a trip by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi to Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, where he was received by Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“The agreements should allow for more effective management of resources and the construction of water resource management infrastructure,” Nyusi stressed on the occasion.
Mozambique’s minister of public works, Carlos Mesquita, considered the three river basins that cross central and southern Mozambique to be of “strategic importance.”
“It is in these river basins that the Chicamba hydroelectric dam, the Mavuzi dam, the Muda Nhaurire dam and the Gorongosa dam were built, which are vital for the economic development of Mozambique,” he said.
These are projects that contribute to the supply of water to the population, agricultural production, power generation, water supply to industry and environmental preservation, he said.
Joint projects on the horizon
On the horizon is the ambition to build joint projects.
Mesquita referred to two infrastructures in Zimbabwean territory but with impact in Mozambique: the Chipanda Pool dam, with a capacity of 510 million cubic metres, and the Chitowe dam, with a capacity of 50 million cubic metres, both located about 70 kilometres from the border.
“The allocation scheme would be defined during the mobilisation of funds and on the Mozambican side [a set of dams would be built] to help regulate flows and leverage agricultural and livestock development” in the provinces of Gaza, Manica, Sofala and Inhambane, the Mozambican minister concluded.
HE President Mnangagwa @edmnangagwa and His counterpart President Nyusi witnessed the signing ceremony of the following agreements at State House.
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