WATERSOURCE: Dikgathong dam

Dikgathong dam which is the largest in Botswana with a holding capacity of 400 million cubic litres is almost complete.

The dam which is constructed by Chinese company Sinohydro at a cost of P1.134 billion will be complete well ahead of its deadline which was set for August 2012.Construction has also been done within the budget.

In an interview with the Voice, project manager Andy Fang said that team work and commitment resulted in the completion of the project on time.

“We started construction early 2008 and we faced lot of challenges, major one being the floods that brought the project to a halt in June 2008. After that we accelerated construction by bringing more manpower and resources.’’

He said that between April and October of that year they managed to catch up.

He also revealed that experience also came into play as they have been in dam construction business for over 40 years

“We have done dam construction in Mozambique and have a power plant in Zambia,’’ he said.

Resident engineer Boikanyo Mpho said it is the first time in Botswanafor three damsbe constructed at the same time. The damsare namely Dikgathong, Thune and Lotsane dams,

“The government took a deliberate decision to develop water resources thus suspending other major projects,’’ he said.

Mpho said that the dam will supply the greater south of the country especially Gaborone adding that construction of a pipeline will start soon.

“Currently the dam is starting to receive some water and hopefully it will be full to capacity in a year or so and then spill over in two years time’’.

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