10 Dec 2019

Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) has decided to cluster some areas to avoid having many individual water treatment plants throughout the North West District, .

Updating councillors on the district water situation on December 9, the council chairperson, Mr Kebareeditse Ntsogotlho, stated that strategically located water treatment plants in the district were at different stages of construction.

He said contract one, being part of the Maun Water Supply and Sanitation Upgrade commenced October 2019 and would cost P1.8 billion.

The project, he said, was a design and build project that would rehabilitate water distribution and extend sanitation reticulation to the entire Maun growth buildable area.

The project would also address current leakages, which were around 43 per cent.

Mr Ntsogotlho said the site visit for contract two, involving the equipping of 30 boreholes, construction of collector lines, ground water treatment plant, improved reservoirs capacities within Maun and water supply to Komana, Nxaraga and Somelo villages was at financial evaluation stage and its award was anticipated by February 2020.

Another strategic project, he said, was the upgrading and rehabilitation of Shakawe Treatment Plant, master balancing reservoir and transmission pipelines that was due for commissioning in April 2020.

He stated that beneficiary villages t would be provided with adequate and quality water. 

Benefitting villages include Shakawe, Mohembo West, Shaikarawe, Ukusi, Samochima, Xhaoga and Nxamasere.

Furthermore, the chairperson revealed another strategic project, which he said was planned for the greater Gumare area, but was awaiting the NDP 11 mid-term review exercise for funding.

The meeting learnt that tender documents had been prepared and were awaiting funding confirmation before the project could be floated.

Mr Ntsogotlho noted that the Seronga Surface Water treatment plant that supplies Seronga and Gudigwa villages and the settlements of Teekae, Gunutsoga, Ndorotsha, Eretsha and Beetsha was also in the plan.

He said process improvement planned for the treatment plant to further improve water quality and connection of Mokgacha, Ngarange and Mogotho to the scheme was also included in the planned works.

The project is at procurement stage, where single sourcing was preferred to expedite the delivery process. The award is also anticipated by February 2020.

Cllr Ntsogotlho assured fellow members that as the council, they would continue advocating for improved access to safe, reliable and affordable water for various communities throughout the district.

He added that going forward, priorities would be made for the remaining areas with challenges of either or both water supply or quality challenges to foster wellness and facilitate development of the communities.

He appreciated that President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s recent State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) gave a lot of hope to the nation since it signaled positive economic reforms, which were expected to deliver economic prosperity for all Batswana.

In summary, he said SONA triggered certain priority areas such as promotion of export led economy to broaden revenue base and also the creation of the much need employment, focusing on an efficient and effective government spending in order to avoid wastage of funds.

It also focused on provision of appropriate infrastructure which would catalyze economic activities and lastly build appropriate human capital envisaged as the main drivers of the economy as the country heads towards the 4th industrial revolution. Ends