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“We were proud when we were appointed as project engineers, as this meant that
we could contribute to improving the lives of thousands of farmers in the Moamba
district of the province of Maputo,” says Du Plessis & Burger Consulting
Engineers’ liaison offficer Joseph Maluleka. The findings of a prefeasibility
study conducted by the firm con-firmed that there is sufficient high-potential
irrigation land available along the Komati and Sabie rivers. It also stated that
there is enough water for irrigation from the Corumana dam, on the Sabie river.
The dam was constructed in the late 1980s and provides a good supply of water
for the proposed 29 000 ha irrigation development.
“According to studies,
it would be viable to raise the Corumana dam in order to increase its gross
storage capacity from 880 to 1 375 million cubic metres.
“This will cause
the Sabie river to back up into the Kruger National Park across the South
Africa/Mozam-bique border,” notes Maluleka.
He adds that the raising of the dam is currently in progress, with funding to
the tune of $38-million from the World Bank. The project has significant
impli-cations for the district of Moamba and the Mozambican national economy. It
has the potential of generating 18 000 permanent jobs and 7 500 additional ones.
This equates to more than 70% of all the economically-active people in the area.
More people will be trained in construction skills for irrigation infrastructure
and will be respon-sible for maintaining the infrastruc-ture during
implementation.
A total of 200 farmers were selected for the first phase of the project, of
which 80 are from the South African Nkomati region and 120 are from Mozambique.
The 29 000 ha irrigation develop-ment will be developed in three phases, with
phases one and two consisting of 10 000 ha each and phase three 9 000 ha. Civil
engineering software will be used extensively in the actual feasibility study,
requiring an in-depth engineering investigation with the help of Civil Designer
and AllyCAD. The investigation will focus on a bulk irrigation water-supply
system, bulk electricity supply, road infrastructure, irrigation land and agrobusiness
developments.
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Bulk water, electricity distribution and tarred roads
will not benefit the farming community alone, as the electricity will become
available to all households in the area. In addition, the upgraded roads will
improve tourist access and benefit the local economy, allowing the local and
national economy to receive a substantial boost. “We have proposed that the
government fund the bulk infra-structure in the proposed developed area, while
farmers fund their in-field irrigation equipment and production cost through
loan funding. “The new agrobusinesses will be funded by private enterprise,”
explains Maluleka.
This kind of investment will have long-term benefits
for the national economy of Mozambique and the expenditure on bulk infrastruc-ture will be repaid over time by the government from water leviesand
the income tax that the farmers and the agrobusiness will be paying. The project
will take nine years to implement. Funding for the final feasibility study is
currently imminent and construction will begin once the funding is secured.
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