MASHONALAND West Minister State Mary Mliswa says the Kariba Dam is becoming a white elephant in terms of tourism.

Speaking when she paid a courtesy call on her Zambian counterpart Southern Province minister Edify Hamukale on Thursday, Mliswa said Zimbabwe is ready to do business with Zambia.

“There is so much we can do with Kariba, for me it’s becoming a white elephant. So much could happen on the dam. We need to wake our Kariba. It used to be a very busy place tourism wise, but something happened along the way,” Mliswa said.

She informed Hamukale that Mashonaland West was rich in minerals such as platinum.

Mloswa said it was never too late for Zambia and Zimbabwe to intensify trade.

“We are now putting pen to paper and we are very excited. There is no better time to do it than now,” she said in reference to a twinning memorandum of understanding between Southern Province and Mashonaland West to be signed at the South Zambia Tourism and Investment Expo.

Hamukale said commercial intercourse between Zambia and Zimbabwe will remove all barriers that limit trade between the two countries.

He said the MoU would also address the challenge of illegal fishing between Zambia and Zimbabwe at Kariba Dam.

He said it should also be easy to move raw materials such as cotton between the two nations at zero tax.
Hamukale said there was also need to promote water sports on the Kariba Dam.

“The Kariba is a wonderful facility for water sports. If it was in Europe you could have seen how busy it would have been,” said Hamukale.

“We are very confident that with this commercial intercourse, more exciting avenues will open up in future. It is our hope that all trade barriers that limited trade between the two countries will come to an end.”