Africa-Press – Lesotho. in its attempts to address water scarcity in the lowlands which have not been covered by the Metolong Dam, the government through the Lesotho Lowlands Water Development Project Phase II (LLWDP II) will supply water to the affected communities.
The project is expected to kick off and it is envisaged to enhance water supply in Zones 2 and 3 which covers Hlotse and Maputsoe and in the Zones 6 and 7 which will cover Mafeteng and Mohale’s Hoek districts.
There is also Zone 8 and 8 (a) for part of Mohale’s Hoek and Quthing respectively. This is according to LLWDP II personnel at a Concillors and Chiefs forum in Mohale’s Hoek yesterday.
The LLWDP’s Environmental Safeguard Specialist Nthame Monare said despite previous feasibility studies on the sustainability of the water capacity from the rivers, she mentioned that the
supply could go as far as 2030. Monare said this is done while the construcion of dams is anticipated to address water challages in the two south and north regions.
LLWDP II is charged with the responsibility to draw water from the rivers and treat it and transfer into resevoirs wherein they will be distributed to the
communities to be covered by the project. The project sends water through the pipelines network which will be distributed to the communities by Water and
Sewage Company (WASCO) and Rural Water Supply (RWS). It also builds capacity for the two water service providers for ease of water distibution. The project’s Social Safeguard Specialist
‘Mastori Makhetha said drafting of this policy is ongoing and pointed out that
once completed the policy will be availed to the general public. One of the participants ‘Malibuseng Chefa expressed confidence over the project. She however cautioned that due to the
“red tapes” in finding the lease, people whom the project will affect their
lands might face problem in accessing their compensation. Chefa further argued that the Councillors need to be “empowered” to facilitate lease application processes.
Also in attendance was the Mohale’s Hoek District Administrator (DA). The sod turning of the project is said to happen “soon”. The multi-million lowlands water project is expected to reach
completion in 2024. The LLWDP II is funded by the goverment of Lesotho with M6.8 million, the grant of €4.1 million equivalent of M77 million, €68.3 million about M1.3 billion from the World Bank and the European
Union (EU) and European Investment Bank (EIB) pulled together €82 million approximately M1.5 billion. In March and June this year the government has signed for these loans to carry out this project.
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