07 Mar 2018

Assistant Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Itumeleng Moipisi has admitted that Marapong experiences water shortage due to inadequate water supply from the Maitengwe well field as well as due to power supply interruption.

Mr Moipisi, who was responding to a question from Francistown MP, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi on March 6, said the shortage was primarily due to non-availability of back-up power at critical facilities across Maitengwe well field water supply scheme, hence the power supply interruptions, which he said affected supply consistently.

He said the ministry was considering options of availing solar energy as an alternative for back-up power in local water systems.

The assistant minister said as a short term measure, Water Utilities Corporation had commissioned two boreholes yielding 25 cubic litres per hour and seven cubic litres respectively.

“We have seen supply normalised from January 2018 through February 2018, save for times when supply was interrupted by power outages attributed to recent rains,” he explained.

He indicated that in the long term, government had allocated P250 million from funding secured from the World Bank Group to implement the North East District - Tutume Sub-district water supply project.

The project, he said, would upgrade Ntimbale Dam water supply infrastructure to meet the water demand for Nkange constituency and some of the Shashe West constituency villages, Marapong included.

He added that the environmental and impact assessment for the project was ongoing, adding that design review and tender documentation was scheduled for completion in August 2018, after which the construction phase would commence.

Mr Moipisi also explained that the project would ensure that water demand for North East District and Tutume Sub-district was met was to the year 2033.

Mr Mmolotsi had wanted to know why Marapong village consistently experienced water shortage even during rainy seasons. ENDS