Boteti River Flood Waters To 'Cleanse' Diamonds?

GALE NGAKANE
Correspondent | Monday July 12, 2010 00:00

 

Though it could not be verified, talk is rife around the villages that Debswana is salivating at the prospect of utilising water from the river to clean its diamonds in nearby Orapa and possibly Damtshaa and Letlhakane. Efforts to get comments from Debswana public relations officer in Orapa, Kesego Kebelaele drew a blank as she abruptly asked to be contacted later. But by the end of the day, she had not responded to an enquiry from The Monitor.

However, Mopipi headman Oreagetse Machiliza said there was nothing wrong with Debswana drawing water from the river, as it had done before. 'They used to draw water from this river. But it should depend on the volume of water from the river. It will be alright for them to draw water from the river if there is a continuous flow,' said the former member of House of Chiefs. Presently, said Machilidza, Debswana is busy closing down a channel or channels that used to take water into the Mopipi Dam. The idea is for the river water to take its natural course, which had been diverted by the channels. 'What it means is that the water will flow where it used to flow before the Mopipi Dam was constructed,' said Machilidza. The dam is now a fossilised entity traversed by the newly constructed Orapa-Maun highway. Fears that the water will submerge the road have been allayed following reports that Debswana is closing channels into the dam.

Before the river dried up, the Orapa Mine drew water from the Boteti River for its diamonds purification and drinking by workers. But the company has since dug numerous boreholes around the mine plant.

Orapa also has a dam for harvesting rainwater.

Meanwhile, the officer in charge at the Hydrology and Water Resources office in Francistown, John Chakalisa said the free flow of the water on the river bed is being frustrated by the deep pits and wells that were dug by people watering their animals.

'That is why it is taking long to reach at least Xhomo.

Right now it is on the outskirts of Rakops, but had it not been for the deep pits, it could have been between Madikola and Xhomo,' said Chakalisa. Although he would not quantify the amount of flow in the river, he acknowledged the fact that water was plentiful at the source, especially at Thamalakane River, which flows into the Boteti River.