E824.7M WATER PROJECT FOR 90 000 RESIDENTS

MATSAPHA – About 90 000 residents from five constituencies in peri-urban and rural areas will have water in their homes.

This is because government, through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, has launched a project worth E824.7 million that will bring water to homes at Mtfongwaneni, Mafutseni, Nhlambeni, Manzini South and Manzini North constituencies.

The Manzini Integrated Water Supply and Sanitation Delivery project, which is implemented by Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC), was launched by the Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Peter Bhembe during an event held at Esibayeni Lodge yesterday.

According to EWSC Technical Services Director Nontombi Maphanga, who outlined the overview of the project, the E824.7million funding came from two structures; the African Development Bank which contributed E717 700 000 and government, which pumped in E125 000 000. She said initially, the project was supposed to cover four constituencies; Mtfongwaneni, Mafutseni, Nhlambeni and Manzini South, and benefit 76 000 residents. However, she said as they looked into the available budget, they considered including Manzini North, resulting in an increase of beneficiaries to about 90 000.  She said the project had three components; the construction of a potable water system, sanitation and institutional support and capacity building. 

Regarding the proposed potable water system, she said it entailed construction of a 25MLD drinking water treatment plant and bulk water pipelines, reservoirs and reticulation system. The reservoirs (2 mega tanks) will be constructed at Mphilo, near Moneni.

Meanwhile, the water treatment plant will produce water that complies with EWSC drinking quality guidelines standard. “The sanitation component entails construction of a wastewater treatment plant at Sidvokodvo,” Maphanga said.

On the other hand, EWSC Managing Director (MD) Jabulile Mashwama said upon completion of the project, the national water coverage would increase by three per cent, to 84 per cent by 2024.

The MD said since the announcement from the Throne (during the opening of the 11th Parliament), to date, they had completed the inspection report and the preliminary designs. She said they had also completed and submitted for approval the environmental and social impact assessment.

“We are in the process of drafting the final designs, which we hope we will have completed by the end of  November 2020. After which, we will be in a position to begin the process of procuring the contractor to implement the works. According to the project overview, it is supposed to start in July 2021 and be completed in December 2022,” she said. 

The MP urged chiefs from the various chiefdoms under the five constituencies to ensure that the project was speedily implemented without any disturbances.

She renewed their commitment to provide the nation with a service commensurate with their expectations. 

“Unfortunately, this cannot be done without the consistent payment of customer bills as we totally depend on it to continue providing services to the nation,” she said.

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