01 Feb 2016

The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Kenneth Matambo says all projects for water and electricity will be accorded high priority in the allocation of the budget.

Delivering the 2016/17 budget speech to the National Assembly yesterday, Mr Matambo said water and electricity were key inputs into the country’s economic activities.

However, he said due to the drought situation and continued technical challenges related to power supply, the country was currently faced with water and electricity supply shortages.

“Shortages of such critical utilities do not only inconvenience the general public, but also undermine growth in the economy as they adversely affect business operations,” he said.

To address the water shortages, he said the government has embarked on a number of projects in various districts to ensure security of water and improved waste management.

For the greater Gaborone area, the minister said the government intended to meet water demands by, among others, increasing water storage capacities and the construction of new primary water pipelines.

He noted that phase II of the North South Carrier Water Scheme, which involves construction of a parallel pipeline to the existing line, was underway. Other initiatives, he said, included exploring the possibilities of accessing water from Lesotho and the Chobe-Zambezi area.

 “Initiatives are underway to reclaim waste water as an alternate water resource. The construction of a waste water reclamation plant in Mahalapye is underway. The plant will produce 3.9 million cubic metres of water per annum, with the potential to irrigate 40 hectares of agricultural land,” he said.

The minister said “it is expected that the reclaimed waste water initiative will reduce pressure on the usage of portable water on agricultural production,” he said.

Moreover, Mr Matambo said the government, through Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation, has also set up a world class centre for material sciences that would assist in the development of new materials in the water purification sector and air filtration, amongst others.

To address power challenges, he said efforts continued to be made to address the technical issues facing the Morupule B Power Station. Due to major defects arising from the construction of the project, the minister said the plant’s reliability had been low.

This, he said, had resulted in financial burden for Botswana Power Corporation, which had to source power from, amongst others, the emergency diesel power plants and imports.

“To improve on the power generation situation in the country, the Morupule A Power Station is being refurbished. The project scope includes overhauling and repairing various units, which should result in an additional output of 132 megawatts.

Despite the power challenges, Mr Matambo said the government remained committed to improving access to electricity within the country, with more villages planned for electrification through the rural electrification programme.

In this regard, he said “network extension in 24 villages is currently ongoing. The solar electrification programme is also ongoing in government schools and associated facilities that are far away from the national power grid.”

Furthermore, he said the implementation of the national electrification standard cost, which was established to reduce the burden of high connection cost for domestic consumers, was also ongoing.

In an effort to cut on costs, Mr Matambo said the government has adopted low cost solar technology for street lighting and sensitised government departments on its availability, adding that its use had been demonstrated in Gaborone, Ghanzi and Southern Kgalagadi districts, with possible roll-out to other areas across the country. Ends