A dry Independence Day for Malaka village

Tebogo Kgalemang
Correspondent | Wednesday October 6, 2010 00:00

During a visit to Malaka during independence, village headman Shima Modukanelo told Mmegi that his village has not been able to celebrate  independence as expected because of the water shortage.

The headman said he does not understand why there is a water crisis in Malaka because they have done everything they can to address the situation.  'At first we thought that the water crisis was a result of the borehole being in the middle of the village.

We then agreed to move it to the outskirts of the village but still the situation is the same,' lamented Modukanelo.

He went on to say that in instances when they do have water, it comes out murky, raising fears of a health hazard.  The headman said it was particularly painful this Independence Day as there were many funerals in the village that needed a lot of water. 

The villagers had to fetch water from nearby wells to cook and perform other duties. Meanwhile Water and Waste Water Engineer in Palapye, Abednico Showa said they were aware of the water crisis in Malaka during and before independence.

He said the output of Malaka borehole is now more than the water demand in the village because of the increasing population. 

Showa said the water system works for 24 hours and it always becomes difficult for the engine to recover if it encounters a breakdown.

The engineer said the Malaka borehole engine had a breakdown just before independence hence the problem.He however said they were working on a long-term remedy. 'We have sent a proposal to the ministry to connect Malaka and other surrounding villages to the new water supply system.

This is to combine the villages water supply.' Villages that are to benefit if the proposal succeeds include Malaka, Manaledi, Goo-Tau, Lecheng and others.

Showa said with this system the villages would benefit a lot adding that the water would no longer be rusty as it is today.  He said it is not only Malaka residents that are drinking rusty water but rather all the villages in the district.

He cited that this is because of the low PH, which makes the water corrosive. Showa however advised the villagers that this condition of water is not dangerous to people's health except that it was not good for washing white clothes. 

One resident Gabolete Gofetamang describes the water condition in the village as very disturbing, especially during holidays. She says they are forced to drink water from rivers even though it is not good for their health.

Gofetamang blamed the government for abandoning rural villages in developments despite the route to Vision 2016. 'Is it proper for the government to claim that it encourages good health among all Batswana in their Vision 2016, whilst some of us are still drinking water from rivers?' Gofetamang asked.

Situated 44 kilometers from Palapye, the small village of Malaka is endowed with good natural resources and tourist attractions like the Phothophotho waterfall and the Old Palapye historical site, comprising of the old church of London Missionary Society, old graveyards and a prison. 

But villagers complain that these resources however do not benefit them, as they do not have better developments in the village.

The only visible developments in the village are a primary school and a health post. Residents rely on Lecheng village for many of the other facilities.