By Neo Mathibe
Members of the Ha Ramorakane community in Maseru say they have lost any semblance of trust they may have had in the minister of water Nkaku Nkabi, after his promise to address their water supply problems turned out to be nothing but a mirage.
Ha Ramorakane is one of the villages lagging behind in the race for modernization. Located a stone’s throw from the affluent Masowe 3 suburb and the Thetsane Industrial Park, it is a gruelling 30-minute drive from town on a delapidated gravel road.
The community have had no access to modern water supply systems since the 1970s, and the few taps in the village have over the years fallen victim to vandalisation triggered by inter-village conflicts. Members of the neighbouring Qeme and Ha Hlalele communities vandalized pipes distributing water to Ha Ramorakane, and stuffed them with garbage. This meant water could no longer run to their taps.
Under the circumstances, the only course open to Ha Ramorakane was for the residents to solve their water problems by building their own water pumps. They contributed to build these pumps, but they have since aged and stopped, and need maintenance. This means women are forced to walk at least one kilometre to fetch water from unprotected sources.
Kabi and his deputy Lepota Sekola visited the village in August, where they told the people his that ministry of water would respond to their crisis of water shortage as soon as possible.
This was shortly followed by the local water committee compiling lists of households that do not have access to water, to enable the Rural Water Supply department to effectively plan its water supply projects.
However, four months have gone by and the community is still parched as there is no sign of water connection in the village. For instance, in October, the community went three weeks without water from all their water sources.
A disappointed Chief Sekhofa Ramorakane had a mouthful to say: “These government people cannot be trusted with anything. They only ever come to us when they campaign for votes and then disappear right after. I say this because, the minister of water and his deputy came to our village and promised to give us water but up until this day, we are still in dire need of water.”
In an interview with theReporter on Friday last week, Ramorakane touched on other challenges that his community is facing, that he accuses the government of turning a blind eye to.
“We don’t have proper roads in this village; they are all damaged. No health faciltity, no water, no services of any kind.
“When a robbery occurs and we call the police, they either arrive late or do not show up at all. We have evidence to suggest that perpetrators operate in cahoots with the police. There is a lot of crime in this village and it needs to be rooted out. I hope to get assistance from the government but I am disillusioned with the way it operates.”
The chief’s sentiments were echoed by local community councillor Klaas Bosman, who said he was worried about the well-being of the people because government deployees do not seem to take issues that affect the people, seriously.
“I had hoped that after the recent exercise of collecting data of families residing in the village, we would see progress or any sign that points in that direction. But it was no to be. I can’t say I am surprised though, because the order came from the ministry and there is no specific person to hold to it. “We completed the exercise and submitted all the data to the ministry. The people of Ha Ramorakane are not happy that they will be spending Christmas
