28 Jul 2020

Development of a water security strategy is reportedly in progress to deliver medium and long term solutions to demand deficit countrywide.

Ministry of Land Management Water and Sanitation Services permanent secretary, Ms Bonolo Khumotaka told the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently that the ministry had been delivering projects.

She said the ministry had also drawn lessons that would enable it to effectively and prudently manage implementation of water, sanitation and land servicing infrastructure development projects. 

Meanwhile, project  management office director, Mr Kaboyamodimo Raitoko said 77 contracts were budgeted for under the consolidated fund and were at different stages of implementation. 

He said his office was implementing 35 land servicing projects; 20 water and sanitation, while 22 were undertaken by Water Utilities Corporation (WUC).

Giving a breakdown, Mr Raitoko said full land servicing projects were categorised into different clusters being four at engineering design phase and eight at construction stage. 

These include Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) projects that were approved during NDP 10 but could not be funded due to recession, he explained. 

Mr Raitoko said the projects also included extending water works/ring main to facilitate later reticulation by WUC and minimal servicing of 19 projects countrywide. 

The scope, he said, covered provision of access roads in the form of graded, graveled or paved as well as provision of public standpipes or extending reticulation and additional storage tanks and optimisation of water mains.

He explained that the water supply and sanitation infrastructure projects were for long term water security adding that 20 were being implemented by his office while WUC was responsible for 22. 

All the projects were at different stages of implementation, he said  adding that movement of specialists was delayed due to the international travel ban as a result  of COVID-19.  

Mr Raitoko said although there were procurement challenges such as queries, non-responsive bids and litigation, the ministry had improved on invitation to tender development and enforcement of contracts. Ends