21 Aug 2020

Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) communications manager, Ms Beauty Mokoba, says the corporation intends to provide water to all during the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Speaking in an interview recently, she advised WUC clients to attend to their water bills, adding that the corporation’s cumulative debt stood at over P850 million. 

She added that utility bill moratorium set time for households to consider monitoring meter readings and reporting any faults in water supply to fulfil affordable bills and equitable water distribution. 

Ms Mokoba said equitable water distribution across the nation was dependent on payments from clients to enable WUC to carryout maintenance services, among other things. 

She said WUC strived to avail developments aimed at aiding consumers and WUC to effectively monitor daily consumption rate hence, the recent piloting of smart metre solution in Nanogang JSS.

She advised clients to obey COVID-19 regulations and use self-service platforms for payments and launching queries. 

When addressing a public hearing committee on agriculture recently, WUC chief operations officer Mr Matthews Sebina said interventions were underway to resolve water distribution shortages across the country. 

He explained that WUC was mandated to supply water to 500 villages from a total of over 100 boreholes and ninr dams. 

Currently, WUC efforts to facilitate supply of water to villages were at developmental stages as per the set milestone activities, he said. 

Among projects across the country, Chadibe, Borolong and Shashemooke project in the Central District was said to be at construction stage for a 28km pipeline, a pump station and four 500 cubic meter of galvanized tanks, while a 20 mega-litre tank to Borolong was complete and pressure testing has commenced. 

 “At present, WUC has technically commissioned the supply to Shashemooke which provides great relief to the village as it has been experiencing extreme shortages as they have been supplied through bowsers. The component of the water scheme has been put to service,” he said. 

He said design and construction of 100km long pipeline from Masama well field to Mmamashia treatment plant to augment supply to greater Gaborone started in May while design, review and construction supervision for Molepolole sewerage scheme project was awarded last month.

He said the Maun tender for water supply distribution system rehabilitation and water supply and sanitation upgrade (Phase 2) and other associated works had been issued to consultants in July. 

Mr Sebina highlighted that Malwele, Molepolole, Thamaga, Thebephatshwa water scheme and associated works construction begun last month. Ends