Rethabile Pitso

THE Metolong Dam and Water Supply Programme (MDWSP) has finally been completed with the official opening ceremony set for 21 November 2015, Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) Public Relations Officer Lineo Moqasa has said.

MDWSP is a M5.7 billion public works project launched in 2011 with the intention of providing a new raw water supply for Maseru and the surrounding towns.

The dam was built on the South Phuthiatsana River, around 35km from Maseru, to supply treated water to more than 500 000 people for domestic and industrial use. It was also meant to stimulate the region’s economy through the creation of jobs and the improvement in health due to clean water. The dam is 83m-high, 60m-wide at the foundation and 9m-wide at the top, with a crest length of 210m, which can hold 63.7 million cubic metres of water.

According to Ms Moqasa, Metolong Dam was already supplying Maseru, Morija, Roma and Teyateneng for the past three months. She said the Metolong Authority, which was mandated to implement the MDWSP, would officially hand over the facility’s management to WASCO.

“We have been working together with the Metolong Authority to distribute water to four towns, namely Maseru, Morija, Roma and Teyateyaneng for the past three months,” Ms Moqasa told the Sunday Express on Friday.

“The water supply was a result of the completion of the main reservoir at Phuthiatsana River. Transmission pipelines have also been constructed to convey treated water to the four towns. New reservoirs have also been constructed in Morija and Maseru in addition to the existing ones being managed by WASCO.”

Besides the government of Lesotho, the European Investment Bank, Saudi Fund for Development, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, OPEC Fund for International Development, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Millennium Challenge and the World Bank contributed to the project’s construction.