07 Jul 2014

Over 300 cases of water leakages that are reported to Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) on a monthly basis are causing water shortages in Molepolole despite the oversupply of water.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting in Molepolole after commissioning Malwelwe water supply augmentation project on Friday July 4, the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Mr Kitso Mokaila said WUC was still grappling with addressing the leakages as they only have eight pipe fitters.

He said the corporation was in its second phase of addressing water shortages by replacing old pipes in areas experiencing low supply.

Mr Mokaila said although the Malwelwe water project was now complete to supply the village with enough water to meet the demand, reports of low or no supply were still forthcoming.

The minister said, “the corporation is working round the clock to identify causes of no supply in some water works areas in the village though enough water is pumped from the boreholes of Malwelwe and Gaothobogwe.”

He said the combined yields of 12 boreholes produce about 16 800 cubic metres per day, enough to meet Molepolole and Thamaga cluster water demands. 

The minister also toured water works projects and later commissioned Malwelwe pump station. Malwelwe scheme will augment water supply to Molepolole, Thamaga, Thebephatshwa as well as cluster areas in the surroundings. The project is one of the emergency projects funded by government to address water supply shortages in Botswana.

Kweneng District Council chairperson, Mr Mothophi Leo commended the minister for living up to the promise to always consult and appraise Bakwena on the water situation. He said leakages were bound to happen because some pipes were old and worn out and urged the residents to always report such leakages to curb wastage. ENDS