‘Mantoetse Maama
MASERU — The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) has finally agreed to supply potable water to villagers in Mapeleng who were forcibly moved to make way for Katse Dam, ending a 16-year legal battle.
The two parties signed a settlement agreement on Thursday that will see the LHDA set up a potable water supply facility in a move that is expected to significantly improve the villagers’ standard of living.
The agreement was brokered by local civic group Transformation Resources Centre (TRC).
“LHDA shall construct a water supply system for the benefit of the Mapeleng community. The water system shall supply potable water of a standard compliant with the relevant . . . standards in respect of quality, quantity and convenience,” said part of the settlement agreement.
The project is expected to be carried out over the next four months and is expected to be completed by September.
Under the terms of the agreement, the LHDA will not compensate villagers whose properties such as residential sites, gardens and fields will be affected by the project.
High Court judge Teboho Moiloa on Thursday said the agreement was the final settlement of a dispute that had dragged on since 1996.
Justice Moiloa ordered the LHDA to pay M14 000 within two weeks towards the applicants’ costs.
He said under the signed agreement, external stakeholders including the ministries of natural resources, local government and the TRC would be passively involved in the implementation of the project.
The stakeholders would also attend the final inspection for the handover of the completed facility.
According to the agreement, monthly progress meetings will be held to ensure proper coordination and implementation of the project.
The Mapeleng villagers were forcibly moved from their homes in 1996 to pave way for the construction of the giant Katse Dam.
Chief Khethang Khethang and 74 members of his community however filed a civil application in the High Court arguing that the LHDA had violated their rights when it built Katse Dam.
The villagers submitted that their relocation had left them isolated in the mountains without sustainable livelihoods, healthcare, education and social networks.
They said this situation contravened basic tenets of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Treaty, LHDA Order of 1986.
They said the project had left them worse off.
The LHDA was also contravening its own policy governing resettlement and compensation citing the LHWP Treaty Article 15.
The article says: “The parties agree to take all measures to ensure that the implementation, operation and maintenance of the project are compatible with the protection of the existing quality of the environment and, in particular, shall pay due regard to the maintenance of the welfare of persons and communities immediately affected by the project.”
A United Kingdom-based civil society group, Protimos, that was assisting the Mapeleng community with legal support, welcomed the settlement deal.
Protimos director, Fiona Darroch, said they were delighted that the consent order had been achieved without the need for protracted litigation.
“Chief Khethang and the Mapeleng community have waited many years for their water to be restored.
“This is primarily a victory for the rule of law in Lesotho, with benefits for all, not least for the many communities who have suffered so much, so unnecessarily, in the wake of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project,” Darroch said.
Protimos is a network of lawyers that provides capacity-building legal training and education to impoverished and marginalised communities.