Dikgatlhong Dam construction starts

KENNETH BANDA
Correspondent | Thursday February 7, 2008 00:00

 

Speaking during a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of the P1.2 billion Dikgatlhong Dam in Robelela near Serule on Friday, Kedikilwe said demand for domestic water supply and industrial development is rising at a high rate. Unprecedented mining activity in and around Francistown and the proposed Mmamabula Energy Project were threatening to create an unprecedented imbalance between water supply and demand. Kedikilwe said Botswana's 2004 Millennium Development Goals report had identified water scarcity as one of the issues likely to present constraints to development. But his ministry was doing all it could to cope with the situation.

'To this effect, there are a number of initiatives aimed at improving water supply for the country's current needs as well as sustaining it for future generations,' the Minister said. He said for Government to continue to develop more water resources at prohibitive costs depended on the state of its financial resources; but these resources were stretched by a host of other national needs of equal importance. Total estimated investment to improve water supply capacity of 347 million cubic metres to 900 million cubic metres is in the region of P4billion. 'It is important to note that the depth of our financial resources to develop these resources is dependent on, among other things, our ability to operate and manage the existing ones effectively and efficiently,'

Kedikilwe said, adding that wastewater reuse should be optimised.Speaking at the same ceremony, the Member of Parliament for Tati, Samson Guma Moyo, said as the global economy grew, so would demand for water.

'The consensus is that the growing water scarcity and the misuse of freshwater pose serious threats to sustainable development,' Moyo said, adding that competition for limited water supplies among agriculture, industry and cities was already constraining development efforts in most countries.'As populations expand and economies grow, competition for limited supplies will intensify and so will conflicts among users,' he said. But despite persistent water shortages, its misuse was widespread. Moyo warned that the construction of the Dikgatlhong Dam should not create any illusion that Batswana could afford to waste water. 'It (water) will be scarce, (and) expensive to develop and maintain,' he said. 'We also recognise the fact that the prospect of high cost water may at first seem to be another problem looming for low-income people. 'There was need to introduce incentives and regulations to encourage people to conserve water. Moyo urged Batswana to take advantage of the job opportunities that the construction of the Dikgatlhong Dam will create. For his part, the Director of Water Affairs, Vincent Bagopi, said the construction of the Dikgatlhong Dam was a direct response to a need for a (more) reliable water source.

With a capacity of 400 million cubic metres, the dam will be the biggest in Botswana once completed. It will mainly supply the eastern part of the country in which Gaborone lies.