21 Jun 2018

Electrical supply interruptions to Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) pump stations in Gaborone, Boatle and Nnywane are the main cause of water supply interruptions in Lobatse,

Assistant Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Itumeleng Moipisi said the interruptions also occurred when the transmission line from Gaborone was out of operation due to bursts through vandalism or bursts due to aged glass reinforced pipeline from Boatle to Lobatse.

In addition,  he said  major pipe bursts had  occurred due to the ongoing Gaborone-Boatle road construction, where three major breakdowns had been experienced recently.

He said the tie in of PS4 to the North South Carrier at Bokaa had an impact on the supply of water to Gaborone, which replicated to Lobatse.

Mr Moipisi said to address these challenges,  WUC works with the contractor for Gaborone/Boatle road to minimise breakages and has since commissioned standby generator sets to kick off when power cuts off.

He said the Lobatse Water Master Plan Project, whose objective is to address the current challenges, had been awarded to Bothakga Burrow Botswana for the review of the current rehabilitation project    effective April  19 at a cost of over P2 million.

He further said a consultant has commenced the four months design review this month, whose completion will guide on construction cost and implementation time frame and construction would be supervised by the same consultant.

Lobatse MP, Mr Sadique Kebonang had asked the minister if he was aware of water shortages that occurred regularly in Lobatse and if there were plans to upgrade the pipeline to Lobatse and when. ENDS