Home | News | MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT ESWADE’S E100M SAVINGS

MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT ESWADE’S E100M SAVINGS

17/08/2019 23:56:00 BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE

Font size:

mfanukhona@times.co.sz

LOBAMBA –Credit must go to ESWADE, say senators.

Lawmakers in the upper chamber are elated that eSwatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (ESWADE) made savings of above E100 million in its spending on projects under LUSIP 1 in the Lowveld.

LUSIP stands for Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project.
It has been established that despite successful provision of infrastructure in the project target communities, there are concerns that some households do not have water for drinking yet ESWADE made the massive monetary savings.

Some of these people who spoke to this newspaper did not understand why ESWADE was being congratulated on making savings because they lacked one of the basic essential resources.

“There’s no substitute for water. Water is life,” one of the people who felt his name should not be mentioned, said.
“We don’t want our chiefs to know that we have telephoned you about this matter.”

division, misunderstandings

It has since been established that ESWADE had hoped the communities would form schemes so that it was easy for the parastatal to provide the water to the households. Due to division and misunderstandings among communities, the water schemes were not established, sources told the Times SUNDAY.
“The people want ESWADE to ensure their homes were connected to the water source. In short, they wanted water to be available at their homes,” another source explained.

In a report tabled in Senate last Thursday by Chairperson of the Ministry of Finance Portfolio Chairman Senator Tony Sibandze, the benefits accrued from the enterprise’s LUSIP 1 project outweighed the complaints in a great measure.

In an interview, the senator also emphasised on the positives of the project as he said it changed many lives through initiation of income generating projects.
He said the public enterprise had prepared a budget for the provision of water to the people, and had agreed to take E20 from each household in order to sustain the programme.

4 600 households
to benefit

“This will be a contribution to sustain the water provision programme. But the water pipe system will not be connected to their homes. However, ESWADE will install twin pipes to enable those who want water to move to their homes to be at liberty to do so,” said the senator.

LUSIP is a poverty alleviation initiative situated in the Lowveld of Eswatini. The project aims to benefit 4 600 households (34 000 people) through transforming subsistence farmers into commercial farmers of irrigated lands producing cash and food crops.

This development is linked with strong environmental management for sustainability which includes development of potable water schemes and support to public health facilities.

It must be said that the project has resulted in the construction of three dams on the Mhlatuzane River, Golome River and a Saddle Dam to form an off-river storage reservoir to impound 155 million cubic metres of water harvested from wet season flood flows in the Usuthu River, to irrigate a net area of 11 500 hectares.

The project is being implemented in two phases.
In its first phase, the project has constructed the dams and a tertiary distribution system to irrigate the first 6 500 hectares.

In Phase II, government intends to extend the water delivery system by 36km and construct a tertiary distribution system to irrigate a further 5 000 hectares.
LUSIP I Project is in the geographic areas of the following chiefdoms: Madlenya, Ngcamphalala, Shongwe-Othandweni, Gundvwini-Lesibovu, Mamba-Mamisa, Bulunga-Mahashulane and Mphumakudze-Mphaphati.
In Phase II, Ngcamphalala South, Mngometulu and Matsenjwa chiefdoms will be added.

Senate Report

It is stated in Senator Sibandze’s report that ESWADE could not be faulted for all the complaints raised by some people.
He listed the challenges as the absence of drinking or domestic water for consumption at homes.

The senator mentioned in the report that dams and rivers were also full and infested with crocodiles which attacked humans and livestock.
Another challenge highlighted in the report was that there was no water in some parts for irrigation of sugar cane. It is mentioned that water was available for irrigating sugar cane.

Targeted communities for the project are St Phillips up to Lubulini, Matata-Mndobandoba.

ESWADE needs E225 million
To undertake Lusip 2, the senator asked for Senate to pass a loan request for US$15 million, the equivalent of E225 million, at the current foreign exchange rate.

The loan is being sought from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
Senator Sibandze said the loan was very important to the economy because it would address the effects of drought, which has resulted in reduced agricultural productivity, especially in the Lowveld.

He said LUSIP II sought to extend the gains from the successfully implemented LUSIP 1 and that the second project would extend a number of hectares for irrigated agricultural commercial production.
After taking the loan, the country’s debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shall be 28.2 per cent against the debt to GDP threshold of 35 per cent.
By the time the country starts repaying the BADEA loan after a grace period of five years, the chairman of the Ministry of Finance Senate Portfolio Committee said about nine other existing loans for the country would have matured, thereby easing the strain on government cash flow.

He said members of the portfolio committee travelled to Makhonyane, past Siphofaneni, to meet stakeholders on the significance of the projects.
He mentioned in the report that people of Makhonyane embraced the project because ESWADE brought development, created employment opportunities, improved lifestyle of residents, children were able to go to school and resettlements were being carried out appropriately.