A CABINET minister has said traditional rites including the brewing of beer need to be carried out at dam sites in Gokwe and Mutare where mermaids are preventing workers from installing water pumps.

Water Resources Minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo told a Senate committee that workers had refused to return to the two dams because of the mermaid menace.

Nkomo said officers from his ministry had refused to return to a dam in Gokwe where they were installing water pumps after allegedly being harassed by the mermaids.

"All the officers I have sent have vowed not to go back there and I am now appealing to the chiefs to do what is necessary to correct the problem," he said.

A similar problem had also been experienced at Osborne Dam near Mutare where white contractors had been forced to abandon the site.

"We even hired whites thinking that our boys did not want to work but they also returned saying they would not return to work there again," he said.

He urged traditional leaders in the respective areas to brew traditional beer and organise ceremonies to appease restive spirits who are believed to be responsible for the problems.

Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo also agreed, telling the committee certain traditional rites should be carried out at the two dams.

Mermaids are mythological acquatic creatures with a female head, arms and torso and the tail of a fish. They are thought to bring bad luck, with claims that they drag victims to the bottom the river or sea.

Sightings of mermaids have been recorded worldwide but never caught on camera to prove their existence.