Supply of salty water in the Dukwi area may be coming to an end if a statement by the Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Kefentse Mzwinila in Parliament is anything to go by.
When responding to Member of Parliament for Nata/Gweta, Polson Majaga, Mzwinila said that his Ministry has plans in place to address the water supply challenges for the various villages in the Nata/Gweta constituency.
He said that they were upgrading the Sowa Water Supply Scheme Project which is funded by World Bank at the tune of P185 million.
Mzwinila told parliament that procurement for Engineering Consultancy for the design, tender documentation and management and construction supervision was ongoing and that an award is planned for September. “The design, tender documentation and tender management is expected to take about six months, and procurement for the construction work is scheduled to commence in March next year. The actual construction is expected to take 12 months.”
The Minister said that it was true that the borehole water in the Dukwi area was saline and therefore as part of the Engineering Design, a desalination plant was to be considered. “It will treat the saline water to class one drinking water standard,” he explained.
He however said that alternative water sources such as the Chidumila and Mokubilo ground water sources and the Ntimbale Dam Surface water source will be considered in the design to augment water to Nata/Gweta constituency.