07 Feb 2019

Efforts to address acute water shortage in the Ngamiland District continue to bear fruit.

Some settlements which have long suffered have access to potable water.

One such settlement is Chanoga Boseja, which is a catchment area of Chanoga village.

It benefited through the constituency funding programme as the relevant authorities with support from Maun East Member of Parliament, Mr Kostantinos Markus managed to drill and connect a borehole in the area.

The borehole, which has a stand pipe at a mobile stop, is expected to also supply other settlements such as Raira and Tsibogolamatebele respectively.

The project, which commenced early last year and was completed last December.

Residents are currently busy with preparations for a formal handing over ceremony scheduled for February 15.

Kgosi Oateng Setlhodi of Chanoga confirmed in an interview that lack of access to potable water at Chanoga South would be the thing of the past, thanks to the constituency funding programme.

For many years, he said residents had been complaining about access to clean water and there seemed to be no improvement as their area was not gazetted.
Residents, he said, had been drinking from Thamalakane River and their worry was the unreliability of the river and hygiene of the water as some felt it was not good for their health.

Some, he said complained that the water from the river looked dirty and found it difficult to use it for consumption.

Kgosi Setlhodi said residents struggled as they were forced to travel long distances to fetch water as far as Maun and now they were happy that the government had responded positively to their plea by providing an alternative source of water.

He said water connection was an essential development, adding that residents were hopeful that more developments would follow.

“Water is life, so you can imagine how difficult it is to operate anywhere without water,” he stressed.

In addition, he said the residents decided to organise a spectacular ceremony to thank government, stating that preparations were underway to receive the gift in a special way.

An elderly from Chanoga Boseja who is also the chairperson of the organising committee for the handing over ceremony, Mr Masie Pontsho revealed that they had long wanted a borehole in their area.

He said the borehole would improve their lives as they had long suffered and fetched water from the river even though they felt that it was not good for consumption.

“We had no choice, but to drink unclean water from the river and now we are thankful as the government addressed our major challenge,” he added.

Mr Pontsho also said the community had started pledging towards the handing over ceremony, noting that currently two had pledged beasts for slaughter while Chanoga Village Development Committee pledged drinks for 600 people.

The event is expected to attract the district leadership, the community and other stakeholders. Ends