Ftown graveyards sit on underground water

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday March 19, 2015 20:20

 

Responding to a question from Francistown West legislator Ignatius Moswaane in Parliament yesterday, Tshireletso noted that a problem of water-locked graveyards is a national concern.  Moswaane wanted to know if the assistant minister was aware that the proposed cemeteries at Block One, Block Six, and Gerald Estates in Francistown had a lot of underground water that usually fills up graves immediately after they have been dug.

“It is not only Francistown cemeteries that are experiencing the problem of underground water and underlying hard rock layer. One of the cemeteries in Gaborone has a problem of under ground water. I will talk to my officers to always make a survey before allocating plots for cemeteries because it is not proper for the body of our leaders to be on the grave that has underground water,” Tshireletso said.

She said she is aware that the proposed cemetery sites mentioned by Moswaane have a lot of underground water which makes the graves become waterlogged during funerals.

However, the assistant minister said in order to utilise the areas of the cemetery that are not affected by these conditions, her ministry through the Francistown City Council have separated the cemetery into two operational areas.

Tshireletso said Block 1 cemetery caters for adults, while Block 6 graveyard is for infants and children.

“In both these cemeteries, excavation can only be carried out using excavating machines and compressors. Despite the unavailability of land in the surroundings of the graves, the Francistown community continues to bury in both Block 1 and Block 6 cemeteries. Under the circumstances, council will continue to use the existing cemeteries while at the same time engage the surrounding local authorities for possible allocation of land to be used as cemetery,” she said.

She said they were aware of the challenges posed by the underlying hard rock at Gerald Estates cemeteries, which make excavation of the graves difficult.