Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Minister of Natural Resources, Mr. Mohlomi Moleko led the sod turning ceremony of the M40 million water supply project for the Lekokoaneng community on Wednesday at Litsiling.
In his remarks, Minister Moleko said water is the most important commodity in human life because a person can spend 60 days drinking water without eating anything and then still survive, but failure to drink water during these days can lead to death. Mr.
Moleko said Lesotho being part of the global world and the development goals, has pledged her commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which among others include SDG 6 thus; “To ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”, saying they are working tirelessly to ensure that by 2030 every person has access to clean water.
He stressed that it is quite painful to have big dams like Metolong, but communities around its reservoirs have no access to drinking water, hence the initiative to ensure that people have access to drinking water either upstream or downstream of such dams.
He further said efforts to implement rural water supply projects form part of the mitigation strategies aimed at addressing the water crisis within communities, adding that there are many projects already in the pipeline. Mr.
Moleko said under Phase II of the Lowlands Water Supply Project, they are likely to launch other projects in April to cater for towns like Botha-Bothe and Hlotse, saying they will also launch Lowlands Water Supply Phase III to focus on Mafeteng and Mohale’s Hoek districts.
He noted that despite having the lowlands water projects, they will further engage the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) to improve access to clean water for local communities unlike focusing on exporting water to South Africa, while Basotho remain thirsty.
Sharing an overview of the project, the Lesotho Lowlands Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (LLRWSS) Project Coordinator, Mr. Thabiso Tšasane said the Lesotho government requested a grant from the African Development Fund in a bid to extend its water supply projects for communities living around Metolong catchments.
Mr. Tšasane said such work started in 2015 though it was scheduled to begin in 2013. Beneficiaries included Maseru and Berea and around 2019, it was discovered that there were remaining funds that could be used to help the Lekokoaneng community, hence the initiative to launch the M40 million water supply project.
He added that Lekokoaneng water will be sourced from the Metolong supply pipeline to Teyateyaneng town, then it will further be channeled to Ha-Martins where they will build a storage tank of one million litres, adding that it will be piped to the already existing tank in the community until reaching the households. Sharing the same sentiments, Thuathe Member of Parliament (MP), Ms.
Vuyiswa Tsheka said despite being situated near Maseru and Teyateyaneng town, their constituency is treated like those found in the mountainous areas where it is difficult to deliver services, however, they are thankful for the Minister Natural Resources for making a quick return and fulfilling his promises to the community.
Ms. Tsheka assured the community that this project will serve the interests of Basotho hence guaranteeing to work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the full implementation of the project.
She further urged the contractor to promote fair recruitment processes of labour to ensure good working relations with the community as stakeholders and to ensure that the project gets completed at the intended duration.
Representing Mamathe Principal Chief, Chief Seeiso Lobiane Masupha said Lekokoaneng is rich in sandstone mines and water is one of the most used commodities in their daily operations, highlighting the importance of water on day-to-day operations, hence they are pleased for communities which are going to rip the benefits of this project.
Chief Seeiso appealed to those responsible that this project should not be turned into a white elephant but be an effective project, adding that there is a need to ensure the sustainability of such a project as there are some places such as Mamathe with little or no drinking water.
The Chairperson for Senekane Community Council, Mr. Mokone Mahaba said this marks a milestone of development for the community which has been struggling to access drinking water for many years.
He therefore appealed for collective responsibility in ensuring the sustainability of the projects hence allowing the government to focus on other districts. One of the community members, Mrs.
Mathabang Mabine said they were already hopeless due to many promises of service improvement before due to struggles to have drinking water, saying the sod turning brings hope.
During the same event, Minister Natural Resources introduced Mango Tree Construction as the contractor to undertake the water supply project for eight months and it is expected to cover 23 villages of Lekokoaneng.
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