The Department of Waste Management and Pollution Control (DWMPC) has indicated that the P1.2 billion sewage management infrastructure is on track for completion by December this year and is expected to improve management of waste water and sewage in Gaborone.
The Director of the Department, Jimmy Opelo, said in an interview that the project is 65 percent complete and should start working before the end of this year.
The project, which involves the construction of 25 mega litre water sewage storage and treatment facility with sewer lines connected to Gaborone residential areas, is an expansion of the current 65 mega litre facility.
Opelo said the 25 mega litre facility is expected to upgrade and integrate management of sewage and water treatment works in Gaborone.
He added that with the new facility, the use of pit latrines and open dams as waste management facilities is expected to stop. He said the project was started in 2009, after government realised that the use of the dams and pit latrines pose a threat to public health.
“They encourage pollution of the environment and could result in pollution of underground water in areas such as Bontleng where water level is way above the normal level. We want to see the gradual transition from the use of pit latrines to the use of toilets with water system.”
He indicated that there is an urgent need to have the 25 mega litre facility working, in order to reduce pollution associated with inappropriate management of waste in the city.
The Director said after completion, the facility will be handed to Water Utilities Corporation and the public will be expected to pay for connection to sewer lines. He said the parastatal will be responsible for operating and maintaining the facility, adding that, with this development, there should not be a need to expand the waste management facility until 2030.
Meanwhile, Opelo expressed concern that while government invests a lot of money in developing and maintaining such facilities, some members of the public are vandalising them. He said in some cases the over spilling of drains in Gaborone is a result of vandalism.
