26 Oct 2020

Sewage spills or overflows that created unsanitary living condition and produced stench at Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) houses in Ghanzi and thus made life a living hell for residents are abating.

In an interview after touring the affected sewage lines on October 23, Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development, Mr Mmusi Kgafela said the situation had improved significantly.

He said in the interim there was a company providing sewage services as a mitigation measure to the sewage system failure in the  area.

“During my first visit the situation was worse as some homes were flooded with the sewage spills to the extent that some residents had to be relocated and the affected areas were rehabilitated,” he stated.

The minister explained that the sewage system used in that area was a German based system which used suction and was currently experiencing malfunctions and it was unable to provide enough suction for the system to work properly. 

Mr Kgafela stated that the components causing system failure had been ordered from Germany and were yet to arrive. He said he was informed that owing to the rocky ground it was wise and cost effective to use suction system which did not require much digging.

The minister also visited brick moulding  poverty alleviation project which had seven beneficiaries at the moment, where it was emerged lack of toilets and office space was a challenge. One beneficiary, Ms Ineelo Sengange said they were compelled to use the bush as toilets since there were none on site. 

Responding to the concern, Mr Kgafela said it was regrettable to hear that there were no toilets on site, adding that the use of  nearby bush could pollute the environment.

He promised to engage his counterparts to see how they could address the situation and also try to improve their working conditions.

It also emerged that the project is running at a loss despite high demand of bricks. Ends