E825m Manzini Integrated Water and Sanitation Project to commence

MBABANE – The much anticipated Manzini Integrated Water and Sanitation Project will finally commence this year.

Over the past few years, members of the public and politicians alike have been pestering the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy about when the project would finally be implemented. They further emphasised on the need to speed up the process in order to have portable water in the affected communities.

The project is being implemented by Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) and funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The expected date of completion is projected to be before the end of 2024.

ESTIMATED POPULATION

The project area has an estimated population of 76 467, which will benefit upon completion. It is expected that about 52 per cent of the beneficiaries will be female and they will be the most to benefit from it.

The project will create more than 300 temporary jobs during the construction phase and this will indirectly benefit businesses and other service providers in the area and 15 permanent jobs during the operation of the scheme.

Furthermore, all of the kiosk operators will be women, two for each of 25 kiosks and will receive basic training in managing kiosks, including basic numeracy accounting.

As for the Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC), the utility will also benefit from the project through the institutional support in the form of staff training provided under the project.

The project, which is estimated to cost around E825 million comprises of the construction of a scheme to provide potable water and sanitation services to the greater Manzini communities covering Nhlambeni, Mtfongwaneni, Manzini South and Mafutseni and their surrounding areas.

The scope of work include, but is not limited to the construction of a potable water treatment plant, pump station to new reservoir, transmission mains, distribution mains from reservoir to the consumers and construction of water reticulation systems, construction of a sewer treatment plant, construction of sewer collectors, mains and outfall sewers to sewer treatment plant and sanitation facilities.

The project is financed by the AfDB to the value of E720 million and the Government of Eswatini is expected to provide counterpart funding for the balance.

According to EWSC, following the conclusion of the final designs and tender documentation for the water component, a tender advert was issued and bids received, which were, however, above the available budget. A request for no objection has since been submitted to the AfDB for re-scoping and re-tendering of the works. The sanitation component is at detailed design.

The stakeholder engagement and land negotiations and acquisitions continued through the period with provisional treatment plant sites identified and key stakeholders for the access identified and engaged.

The risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have negated progress of the project. The prohibition to use road reserve for infrastructure continues to be a risk for the successful completion of the project.

AFFECTED CONSTITUENCIES

According to the EWSC annual report for the year 2023, the provision of water supply to the affected constituencies, entails the construction of a new water treatment plant in Matsapha, pumping and delivery mains and reinforced concrete reservoirs at Logoba and Manzini.

While reporting on the progress made, the EWSC stated that the project was divided into two lots, Lot 1 appointment was withdrawn due to contractors failure to fulfill contractual obligations. Meanwhile, appointment for Lot 2 was cancelled due to funding limitations.

The EWSC has further reported that the scope of the project had been re-defined to fit within the available budget and procurement documents have been prepared. Also, the approval of a no objection to issue a procurement notice was received from the AfDB.

“The procurement notice was issued and tender closed on November 4, 2022,” reported the corporation.

It was further reported that tender evaluation reports were submitted to the AfDB for no objection and the AfDB reviewed the documents and raised some comments, which have been addressed for resubmission by the corporation.

Then risks of the project, which led to the delay included failure to perform by the design consultant and increased professional fees as a result of the project being divided into two lots. Failed land negotiations with private property owners was also cited as one of the reasons behind the delay as well as the insufficient budget, which may result in further reduction of the scope of works.

Also forex volatility that was corroding the local currency denomination loan is also among the expected risk to the successful completion of the project. The corporation has reported that the action required at present was to submit revised tender evaluation reports to the AfDB for no objection. This would be followed by the appointment of a contractor and commencement of the works.

Meanwhile, the Manzini Region Water Supply and Sanitation Project, is part of the government’s priority investment operation and will be implemented as a stand-alone investment project by the water utility, EWSC.

The project focuses on the expansion of water supply system and improvement of sanitation infrastructure and hygiene practices in the Manzini Region, which is the most populous region in Eswatini.

SANITATION SERVICES

It will support in expanding water and sanitation services to the unserved areas in the peri-urban areas of Manzini. The project is based on development of more reliable and sustainable water sources in the area, and promotion of more environmentally friendly solutions for sanitation.

The project comprises of three components being water infrastructure development, sanitation and hygiene improvement and institutional capacity building and project management.

According to the project objectives, the purpose of the proposed project is to provide sustainable water supply and sanitation services to support the national agenda and is in line with the strategic direction of EWSC.

Further, the purpose of the project is to improve the well-being of the inhabitants and spur economic growth in the Manzini Region through the provision of adequate safe water supply and improved sanitation services. The specific project objective is to meet the potable water requirements of Manzini and surrounding areas and reducing the risk of environmental pollution of the groundwater, through the provision of appropriate sanitation services.