28 Jul 2013

The Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Mr Kitso Mokaila has appealed to residents of Middlepits catchment area to use cross border water sparingly.

Speaking during the official launch of emergency cross border water project on July 27, Mr Mokaila urged all to use water responsibly and ensure the resource was used for its intended purpose.  He said the project was one of the many avenues that government was exploring for Batswana to get water.

The minister noted that in an effort to ensure that the people of Kgalagadi get water, government had signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Lesotho to get water from that country to the district. He further stated that talks were ongoing to have water brought into Tsabong through McCarthysrust from neighbouring South Africa.

Batswana whose villages lying along the border were urged to respect the cooperation that existed between the two countries so that the continued assistance prevailed.

At the launch of the P65 million project that would pump seven litres of water into Botswana per second, Mr Mokaila revealed that the three boreholes drilled in the Middlepits area had shown signs of drying up.

Water from South Africa would be pumped to a booster pump at Gakhibane where it would then be pushed at high pressure to the P85 million Khuis Treatment Plant for supply to the five villages of Gakhibane, Kolonkwaneng, Bogogobo, Khuis and Middlepits.

As a sign of government’s commitment towards serving Batswana, Mr Mokaila said that he had launched the North South carrier pipeline to to ferry water to the southern part of Botswana.

On other issues, Mr Mokaila handed over a 46 000 litre water ferrocement tank which the residents are using for their backyard garden.

The tank harvests rainwater from the hall roofing into the underground tank which is then boosted electronically to feed the other water tank used for watering the garden.

For his part, Member of Parliament for Kgalagadi, Mr John Toto praised President Lt Gen Seretse Khama Ian Khama for his unwavering commitment to improving the lives of Batswana in general.

Mr Toto said the emergency cross border water project was a clear indication of leadership that is concerned about the lives of Batswana.

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Giel Jacobs of Gakhibane extended his gratitude to the South African people for their benevolence in sharing their water with his people. He appealed to his people not to misuse water since they very well understand the scarcity of the resource in their area. The project is expected to start operating by the end of December this year.

The minister’s entourage toured both the South African and Botswana sites to get first hand information on the project. The water pipeline will be connected from the Kalahari East Water Users Association. ENDS