30 May 2018

The long awaited upgrading and rehabilitation of the Shakawe Water Treatment Plant has started.

Okavango Sub-district council chairperson, Mr Mbahahauka Kambimba said the contractor was handed the site last month, and that they were awaiting the commencement date.

“The anticipated project duration is 12 months. Upon completion, the project will help in meeting the water demand of the benefiting villages and settlements,” he said.

He noted that the water situation in the sub-district remained unstable while demand was growing.

He informed councillors on Monday that there had been a slight increase of four per cent in production recently.

Mr Kambimba said the increase in production was mainly due to a pick in slow sand filtration plants which was triggered by flow changes in the Okavango River.

The sub-district council chairperson said the Seonga water project, which is supposed to complement other water treatment plants in the district, was still not complete.

The delay on the project, Mr Kambimba said, was due to changes of pumps at the Eretsha booster station. He said they were consuming a lot of power and that the Botswana

Power Corporation  could not cope. The other delay, he said, was caused by the redesigning of the disinfection facilities, saying  it was ongoing while all other components of the plant were complete.

On a different matter, the Okavango Sub-district is said to have funded 339 poverty eradication projects since inception of the programme.

About 287 are said to be operational while 52 are non-operational. “We have 73 projects awaiting funding, out of which 43 people have been trained,” said Mr Kambimba.

He said the projects would be funded as soon as funds had been released.

Mr Kambimba said although there was a market saturation in some areas, there were projects that were successful, especially bakery projects. He noted that 65 of them were supplying schools with bread.

As for the Remote Area Development Programme (RADP), the sub-council chairperson said 27 beneficiaries would be provided with shelter as a way of empowerment.

He also said there would be employment as VDCs had been given the mandate to select artisans in their areas to construct the houses.

Mr Kambimba said they were also preparing to assist farmers in Xhooshe, Shaikarawe, Gani and Gudigwa with water reticulation. “We have managed to equip boreholes at Xaixai and solar panels have been installed by Water Africa.

He said water reticulation in Gani and Gudigwa would start this month, and that the drilling of borehole at Xhooshe and Shaikarawe would commence after a tendering process.

On other issues, Mr Kambimba said the 2017/2018 constituency community projects started late because the community changed the project scope which called for a redesign. ENDS