15 Apr 2020

Government is working round the clock to ensure that Batswana have sufficient potable water and sanitation services during the period of lockdown and State of Emergency, Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila has said.

Speaking during a press briefing he conducted through Skype on Wednesday, Mr Mzwinila said that although Botswana was prone to water scarcity, interventions had been made to ensure that Batswana had access to the precious commodity, which is crucial in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that with health authorities encouraging hygienic steps such as people regularly washing their hands, water provision had become crucial and the government had taken up measures to ensure its delivery.

Mr Mzwinila revealed that some areas that had been afflicted by water scarcity had been targeted, with 88 emergency water bowsers distributed there as well as water distributed through large tankers that private companies including Kgalagadi Breweries had lent to his ministry.

He said the private sector companies had large tankers which had the capacity to transport 30 000 to 65 000 litres of water, which is significantly larger than the 10 000 litres which his ministry had been capable of distributing through its trucks.

The minister further said government had also sourced jojo water tanks to assist some other areas where the traditional means of distributing water from dams to household had proved to be a challenge.

Mr Mzwinila revealed that while most of the dams countrywide were at good levels, there had been a challenge in some major village such as Kanye and Bobonong, where the water supply network was dilapidated, which created a challenge for water distribution, something he said was mitigated in the short term by the use of bowsers and jojo water tanks to augment provision.

The minister also said the majority of the over 37 000 yards that had been disconnected from water provision due to outstanding water bill debts with the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) already had their water services restored, and the outstanding 2 000 households would also be reconnected, hopefully by the end of this week.

Mr Mzwinila said that an agreement had been made to postpone the payment of water bill debts to WUC until after the current period of lockdown and the State of Emergency had lapsed.

Also, the minister said water provision and sanitation services were the current priority for his ministry, which was also taking advantage of the lessened industrial usage of water in such cities as Gaborone to pump water to some water scarce villages in the periphery. END