Dikgatlhong Dam wall not cracking

 

The 4, 6 km wall of Dikgatlhong Dam is intact and not in any danger of cracking, the Dam’s resident engineer Boikanyo Mpho has assured the nation.Speaking in an interview Mpho, who was part of the team that constructed the P1.134 million dam said that allegations that the dam was cracking were “not true.” Government enclave was thrown into frenzy last week on the back of media reports from neighbouring countries that Dikgatlhong dam’s wall was developing some cracks.

The fears were largely influenced by the state of most dams which were overflowing. However the 4million cubic metres dam was only 44% full at 172 million cubic metres. Others in government enclave blamed the not so impressive construction record of Sinohydro Corporation for the fears.

‘’Remember that most of the construction projects they were given were surrounded by controversies like the P550 million Sir Seretse Khama International Airport project which they failed to complete leading to government dumping them.’’ The other projects that the Chinese company did not complete on time are the Hukuntsi-Kang and Francistown-Ramokgwebana road.

‘’The other factor that is causing uneasiness is that most of the major projects taken by the Chinese companies are either collapsing or not safe, take the Shakawe Senior Secondary School fiasco and the Francistown stadium.  So the fear is warranted.’’ However Mpho quashed the allegations as false and insisted that everything at Dikgatlhong Dam was “done well.’’

He disclosed that they will be handing over the dam to Water Utilities Corporation very soon and that the construction of the P1.5 billion North South water carrier project II pipeline is ongoing and will be completed by January 2014. Dikgatlhong Dam -the brainchild of the National Water Master Plan of 2006 -is situated in Robelela village at the confluence of Shashe and Tati rivers.