Stakeholders agree on joint abstraction of Chobe/ Zambezi River water
WUC remains water custodians Technical team finalising modalities to be used
Stakeholders in the government enclave have found a working solution regarding the award of a multibillion water pipeline construction tender for the abstraction of water from the Chobe/ Zambezi River.
So far, the project is advanced on two fronts, some foreign based companies are reported to have shown interest as both developers and funders. Similarly government through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is ready to mobilise resources once it is informed of the preferred financing model.
The finance ministry has secured a loan from Africa Development Bank ( AfDB) part of which will fund the project’s Transactional Advisor who will thereafter see to the project implementation.
It is reported that finally having looked at the facts advanced by the water authorities, as well as considering all laws and protocols including the riparian rights that govern the abstraction of water from international rivers, stakeholders have seen light and agreed that Water Utilities Corporation ( WUC) is the rightful authority.
But, since this is a big project involving other states or neighbouring countries, the Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services will do the necessary honours of signing the Memorandum of Understanding subsequent to obtaining a full cabinet permission before passing it over to other stakeholders led by WUC.
At a recent technical team meeting, it was agreed that the project will be shared between key stakeholders in order to speed up the process which stands not only to augment water and food security, but also to create employment during and after construction.
Stakeholders were informed that the first portion of the pipeline from the Chobe/ Zambezi River will be done under the Special Economic Zones ( SEZs) criterion. The rest of the remaining envisaged construction of the pipeline to Gaborone will be done by WUC, but they too have to follow all the stipulated procedures of awarding such a tender in the best way possible to ensure the speedy completion of the much needed project.
The technical team is composed of members of MLMWS as custodian of water in the country, Ministry of Agriculture Development and Food Security ( interest in using the water for agricultural purposes) and Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry ( have a Special Economic Zone ( SEZ) in that area which is for the ministry of Agriculture and falls under trade subsidiary Special Economic Zone Authority ( SEZA).
The decision on how the water will be abstracted from the river is purely dependent on the final decision of the technical team.