03 Dec 2018

The long awaited Seronga water treatment plant is complete and operational.

Speaking at the Okavango Sub-district Council end of year session, the chairperson, Mr Mbahahauka Kambimba said the official handing over of the project to water utilities corporation (WUC) was expected soon. 

The plant serves Seronga, Teekae, Gunotsoga, Ndorotsha, Eretsha, Beetsha and Gudigwa.

Mr Kambimba said the procurement of a water line to Mokgacha village in the Okavango area was ongoing and was being handled by the Ministerial Tender Committee.

He also said his office was engaged in talks with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services to give the settlements of Mbiroba, Dxhao and Matswii access to the water.

“As a way of bringing services closer to the people, the corporation is proposing setting up a service centre in the area currently used as the site offices of the project,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr Kambimba told councillors that WUC was in an attempt to engage a competent contractor for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a packaged water treatment plant to be constructed at Sepopa.

The aim of the project, Mr Kambimba said was to ensure supply of potable water to Sepopa, Kajaja, Ikoga, Thamacha, Mowana, Gumare, Tubu, Xanxana, Etsha 6 and Etsha 1.

The proposed specialised water treatment plant is envisaged to have the capacity to produce four million litres of water per day. 

Also, as an urgent relief to the critical water situation in the Gumare interconnection, WUC is relocating a treatment plant from Shakawe Senior Secondary School to Gumare Booster Station at Bodumatau.

This water treatment plant is said to be capable of producing 28 000 litres of water per hour, which is 672 000 litres of water per day if operated 24 hours. 

Meanwhile, the upgrading and rehabilitation of the Shakawe water treatment plant, which started in May this year, is behind schedule.

The project, which is expected to be completed in May 2019, is at 16 per cent against the planned progress of 44 per cent. 

The delay on the project, Mr Kambimba said, was due to the re-designing of the master balancing reservoir, which was initially in the riverbank and encroaching on residential plots. ENDS