09 Jun 2014

The communities of villages in Boteti North and some parts of North West District have been informed that the ongoing Boteti northern cluster rural water supply rehabilitation project will provide adequate potable water for 20 years.

The clustered potable water supply project will cover Khumaga, Moreomaoto, Motopi and Makalamabedi in Boteti. The water network will also extend to Chanoga, Makalamabedi and Phuduhudu in the North West District.

Mr Mangaliso Dennison revealed at a consultation meeting with the representatives of the communities at Moreomaoto on June 5 that the project was expected to be complete by January 26, 2016.

Mr Dennison, an engineer at the project contractor, Red East Construction Pty Limited said the project commenced on January 27, 2014 and therefore saw it fit to consult the community as a relevant stakeholder and customer.

He said the total cost of the project will be over P156 million (P156 759 157.18). Mr Dennison said the project will cover among others equipping of nine boreholes of which five are already in use and four new located Phuduhudu well filed. The Boteti River will be used as another source of water, he said.

The project will also include construction of access roads to the boreholes, reticulation of power to boreholes, construction of water transmission pipelines, rehabilitation of six village reticulation networks, construction of distribution tanks in all villages.

It will also include design and construction of river water intake structure and package treatment plant at Motopi, evaporation ponds, pump stations, reverse osmosis plants and installation of associated electro-mechanical and telemetry works.

Responding to the project overview Councillor Thomas Kgethenyane of Moreomaoto/Khumaga ward had wanted to know as to what had led to changes in the original route of the water line. Cllr Kgethenyane said the water works network route was design to cross the river at Moreomaoto but has since been moved to Motopi where a treatment plant will also be located.

He also wanted to know if the river water will be used to sustain the yields from the boreholes located at Phuduhudu. “I wonder if the water from the Boteti River will be used to sustain the supply from the boreholes as they can no longer produce the anticipated yields to sustain the clustered villages.”

Mr Kgethenyane also added that currently the villages of Moreomaoto and Motopi constantly experience shortage of water as the treatment located at Moreomaoto takes a long to be serviced due to shortage of expert engineer and as such wonder what will be put in place to deal with the challenge in future as the new project will have more than one treatment plant.

Councillor Kgethenyane also noted that there is a need to expand the water reticulation networks for the villages as the design seems to cover small portion of the villages. He said there was a need to revisit the design as the villages had grown since the project was long delayed due to shortage of funds.

Responding to comments from Cllr Kgethenyane, Mr Dennison said when the design for the project was re-visited it was realised that crossing the river at Moreomaoto will be costly and risky for the workers as it is currently flowing. He said the water transmission will therefore cross the river at Motopi where there is a bridge.

Waterworks Engineer from Water Utilities Corporation, Mr Kutlwano Simon has also indicated that the design of the project was long completed and suspended due to lack of funds and therefore there was a need for it to be revisited taking into consideration that most of the villages have grown.

Mr Simon said Phuduhudu well field will be able to sustain all the villages with water for the anticipated period of 20 years without being augmented with supply from the River. He said the villages will be supplied with water from the River through a treatment from Motopi adding that the boreholes will only augment at a time when the river water had gone down.

Safety Officer with the contractor, Mr Wedu Mosalagae has also acknowledged some delays since the project commenced. Mr Mosalagae said issuance of permits from the Ministries of Lands and Housing and Transport has delayed the construction of water transmission connecting the villages.

He said currently there are still awaiting allocation of plots for the construction of treatment plant and evaporation ponds at Motopi. As for overall progress, Mr Mosalagae said four months had elapsed and the project is 64 days behind schedule.

Mr Mosalagae said the contractor planned to catch up with the lost time by increasing machinery and labour force and by doing the village reticulation works that were scheduled for construction in 2015.

Responding to Cllr Kgethenyane’s comment on why the contractor failed to rent houses at the respective villages as promised earlier through consultation meetings, Mr Mosalagae said the contractor had opted to locate site offices at Motopi since it is at the centre and therefore will be easier to operate from there.

As for employment of people from the communities, Mr Mosalagae said to date the company has engaged 10 from Motopi, six from Moreomaoto and one from Chanoga. He said the contractor will also engage graduates through the internship programme appealing to members of the community from the respective villages covered by the project with relevant qualifications to avail themselves. ENDS