Hatsalatladi Cracks Open Scientific Probe For Answers
Pini Bothoko | Monday October 19, 2020 15:24
The government through Botswana Geo-Science Institute (BGI), Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), University of Botswana (UB) with stakeholders like Kweneng District Council and Kweneng Land Board are carrying out a research whose outcome will determine whether the village should be relocated or not.
While visiting the village on Friday, The Monitor crew found a dispatch team on the ground. The scientific team visited all of the affected sites with BIUST carrying out research to establish the cause. Research outcomes are expected to advise government accordingly. The dispatch team is expected to meet sometime this week to discuss the way forward.
Driving around the tiny village, majority of buildings and houses have cracks, something that has left villagers hopeless. The entire village is in a state of panic following what transpired with some of them having prepared their mind for the village’s possible relocation. Manager of Applied Geo-Science under BGI, Koketso Botepe said they are familiar with the cracking of the ground in and around Hatsalatladi. However, Botepe said four years on they still have yet to establish the cause.
He said the first time they visited the village was in 2016 ahead of a tropical storm a year later that was a downgrade from Cyclone Dineo whose floods left a tarred road cracked.
Botepe said investigations are still ongoing to establish the cause, as they are currently busy with reconnaissance investigations.
“At the end we will produce the report. We were looking at what is there, what is happening and what actually causes the cracks. We came and mapped out all the affected areas even though there were a number of areas that we did not see the last time we came here. We came here in 2016 and also in May 2019,” he revealed.
He stated the need to carry out the full scientific study that will inform them and provide answers. Asked what could be the cause of the cracks, Botepe said those sort of events could be made by a number of factors.
“It could be soil, water, science mix being go tshikinyega ga lefatshe (earth tremors and quakes), tectonic issues [subsidence, fracture or fissure] being the structure of the sub-surface or issues of, fossils rivers being dinoka tse di kileng tsa bo dile teng mme di katesegile mme di elela dile ko tlase ga lefatshe [basins]. It could be boreholes over pumping water,” he hinted.
“We have to carry out a number of geophysics, geotechnical, geo-hydrological, hydro-geologist investigations. That is why we are bringing a multi-sectoral team.” He said the cracking usually becomes worse during rainy seasons, but the area is generally flat. He stated that it is the response of the ground hence to establish what it is responding to.
For his part, Dr Ame Selepeng, a lecturer in Geo Physics in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at BIUST said their visit to Hatsalatladi was the beginning of greater things for the village. He said as the team they are going to sit down and look at the expertise and create a team to approach the village crisis.
Selepeng said they have been observing cracks in a number of areas in Botswana giving examples of Ditshukudu, Paje, Mosu to mention but a few.
“These are exciting times for us as scientists. I promise a solution to the residents of Hatsalatladi. We have started doing tests today and from here we are going to meet with other scientists present to come up with a solution,” Selepeng said.
Meanwhile, the village councillor, Kolana Kolana called for calm amongst villagers stating that there has been mixed reactions following what transpired.
He revealed that residents have been having sleepless nights as they wondered what chance they stand against kismet, asking a lot of questions that the ground they stand on, gradually opening up in twisted form of its own name, offers no answers.
Kolana assured residents that scientists are on the ground conducting research to come up with outcomes that will advise government accordingly.