29 Jul 2024

The completion of Selebi Phikwe-Serule Water Transfer Scheme in 2023 means residents of villages in the surrounding area now have access to potable water.

The scheme has connected Damuchojenaa, Serule, Gojwane, Topisi, Moreomabele and some parts of Mmadinare to the 100 million cubic metre Letsibogo Dam located a stone throw away from Mmadinare.

The residents can only rejoice over the steady supply of water, years after grappling with shortage of water.

 “The project has made a big improvement in our daily lives and has addressed water shortage in Mmadinare,” said Kgosi Maureen Mphoeng beaming with happiness.

The project entails a pipeline network from the upgraded Selebi Phikwe treatment plant to Damuchojenaa, Serule-Gojwane, Moreomabele and Topisi as well as setting up of reservoirs and water distribution pipeline networks in the respective villages, ending the dark days of full time water bowsing and low yielding boreholes.

She said Mmadinare had grown significantly over the years, with the coming of Mmadinare Senior Secondary School resulting in high demand for water.

She said the project came at the right time when government introduced new programmes that left no one behind to achieve sustainable development and prosperity for Batswana.

“These programmes will work best where there is access to reliable clean water supply, electricity, roads and other amenities,” she said, commending government for ending the water woes in Mmadinare.

Kgosi Mphoeng said the project breathed some life into Mmadinare and would go a long way in transforming many lives.

Kgosi Mphoeng also warned against vandalism of the WUC infrastructure.

“Water is life and we are appealing to our community to report any breakdowns or leakages to avoid water supply disruptions,” she said.

Damochujenaa development committee chairperson Ms Oageletse Oabile was also ecstatic at the development, saying it was now time for new beginning.

She said residents now enjoyed constant supply of clean water, adding that some even started their backyard gardens to sustain their families.

However, she urged the corporation to extend water pipelines to reach the entire village to enable residents to apply for standpipe connection.

Reflecting back, she explained that when government constructed the North South Carrier pipelines, expectation was that their village would be in the first batch to be connected, but that did not happen despite their proximity to the pipelines.

She said despite all these, residents remained patient to enable government to supply water to Gaborone and some southern villages for domestic and industrial consumption.

“Despite the challenges, we kept hoping that one day things would change because we believed that every dark cloud has a silver lining,” she said.

Meanwhile, government also went further to improve the water situation in Sefhophe and Tobane, where WUC embarked on another project to upgrade Sefhophe water tank to a 500 cubic metre on an 18 metre stand while in Tobane a 300 cubic metre tank had been erected on an 18 metre stand. Ends