In our Tuesday issue, the plant engineers decried the fact that the project is bloated and will likely remain so even after several upgrades due to the fact that property development in Gaborone is not linked to its capacity.
Essentially, city council engineers are statutorily compelled to provide sewerage connections to all residential and commercial developments even when these are incongruent with the Glen Valley Plant capacity. Thus, the developments underway all over Gaborone are undertaken without regard to the plant's capacity. An integrated and coordinated approach to development is critical in this regard. Government's heavy and multi-faceted development drive has meant acceleration in the expansion of power, water, telecommunications and various construction works. In the past three years, the development budget has grown from P8.5 billion in 2008/09 past P10.56 billion in 2009/10 to the current P12.2 billion, representing an intensive focus on development. In fact, the upgrading of the Glen Valley Plant, scheduled for December, is part of this development. However, technicians have often lamented the disjointed manner in which this development agenda is being driven. In power, contractors are battling to map transmission lines as the road network - which the lines should follow - is also under development and subject to change. Often, contractors laying down power lines burst water pipes laid down by their peers, owing to this disjointed approach. In one case in Ngamiland, a contractor laying down water pipes used marking pegs laid down by a power contractor resulting in an awful and costly mix up to government. This scenario is being replicated with the Wastewater Plant. The Botswana Housing Corporation is building hundreds of houses in Phakalane, which is already a perpetually expanding location, while residences, shopping malls and other developments are sprouting all over the city, with little regard for the sewerage plant. It's a no-brainer that wastewater, grey water and sewerage management is essential for the city's sustainable expansion. The capacity and growth of this system needs to be incorporated into any development plans at local authority and central government level, through policy change. An integrated and coordinated approach would bring together land-use planners, the various utilities and their contractors, wastewater managers and engineers as well as interested and affected parties in the effectively and consequence-free employment of the development budget. In addition, as in more progressive states, approval for residential and commercial developments should be premised on, among others, the availability of capacity at the sewerage plant. City engineers rightly argue that commercial property developers, in particular, should shoulder certain portions of the sewerage plant's expansion to accommodate their developments. Government should continue heavily subsidising these for low cost housing, but allow the higher echelons to reasonably contribute towards timely expansion of the sewerage plant. The solutions offered above would lay fertile ground for foreign investment, while simultaneously enhancing citizens' lives through sustainable development.
