18 Dec 2019

Shortage of portable water will soon be a thing of the past for Mathangwane cluster, which covers seven villages.

Speaking at a ground breaking ceremony of the P83 million Mathangwane cluster water development project in Borolong on December 17, Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila said it had been more than 10 years since the seven-village cluster suffered acute water shortage.

The seven villages are; Borolong, Chadibe, Natale, Mathangwane, Makobo, Jamataka and Shashe Mooke.

Minister Mzwinila explained that the current water infrastructure was done back in the 1980s when the population was still small.

He pointed out that the pipeline would channel water from Shashe treatment plant to Tatitown pump station in Francistown at Bluetown area then to Mathangwane tanks for distribution to various places.

He stated that in 2018, they sent a team to assess the infrastructure due to the escalating water crisis situation in areas such as Marobela, Marapong, Semitwe, Nshakazhogwe and Sebina.

He said upon completion of the assessment, the team proposed a new water scheme to address the water crisis.

Mr Mzwinila noted that the new water network would have a 10km water pipeline coming directly from Gerald Estate in Francistown to Shashe Mooke, where a pump station would be built.

In addition, he stated that another 16km water pipeline, also from Gerald Estate, would be built to cover Borolong and Chadibe, adding that four big water tanks would also be provided, two at Borolong while Chadibe and Shashe Mooke would get one each.

Further, he explained that the second phase of the project would be launched probably early next year, which would cover the refurbishment of Mathangwane, Makobo, Natale and Jamataka at a cost of P200m, thereby bringing the total amount of the whole project to P283 million.

Contractor Van and Truck Hire, he said, had been engaged to deliver the project within 12 months and advised to work within the budget and required quality standards.

For his part, MP for Shashe West, Mr Fidelis Molao blamed financial constraints as major factors causing that some delays for development projects, saying however that they would be included  in the national development plan. ENDS