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.
