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EdST Enquiries: Dr Z Dlamini
Telephone: 082 683 3818
Reference: S.4/2/1
MINISTER OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: QUESTION 1621 FOR WRITTEN REPLY
A draft reply to the above question asked by Mr G R Morgan (DA) is attached
for your consideration.
DIRECTOR-GENERAL
DATE:
DRAFT REPLY APPROVED/AMENDED
MRS B E E MOLEWA, MP
MINISTER OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
DATE:
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 1621
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 15 JUNE 2012
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 18)
1621. Mr G R Morgan (DA) to ask the Minister of Water and Environmental
Affairs:
(1) Whether any contracts have been awarded for the building of
phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project; if not, why not;
if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether the loan capital for the building of the dam has been
secured; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether all necessary agreements for the building of the project
have been signed with the government of Lesotho; if not, why
not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) what is the estimated number of people who must be relocated for
the purpose of building phase 2?
NW1882E
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REPLY:
1) There are two contracts that have been awarded for the building
of phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).
Road
The first contract was for the construction of a 3.8 km access
road to the measuring weir downstream of the Polihali Dam. This
contract was awarded to Mops Civil a Lesotho based Company.
Status: The road was completed by the end of November 2011.
Measuring Weir
The second contract is for the construction of the measuring
weir downstream of the Polihali Dam site on the Senqu River.
This contract was awarded to BKS, a South African company.
Status: Still under construction, expected completion date is
September 2012, that is if snow does not persist.
Project Management Unit (PMU)
The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) has completed
negotiations with a preferred Bidder for the Project Management
Unit (PMU) contract. Once the preferred bidder has responded to
the clientâs concerns, an MOU will be signed which paves the way
for the award of the contract. The commencement and
mobilisation of the contract is expected to be by the end of
July 2012.
Baseline Studies
The Request for Proposals for the Baseline Studies has already
been advertised and the closing date of the proposals is 29 June
2012. Expected day for the award of contract is August 2012.
Some of the studies will take 24 months to be completed.
-2-
LHWP Phase II Programme
Design and construction of the dam and tunnels have not been
done. The following is the programme for Phase II of the
Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Refer to the table below:
|WATER TRANSFER SOUTH AFRICA |
|ACTIVITY |TIMELINE |
|Environment and Social Development baseline|August 2012 to July |
|studies and plans. |2020 |
|This means that the EIAs will also be | |
|conducted during this time. The impact | |
|assessment studies will also take place | |
|during this period. The rescue and | |
|conservation of indigenous plants will also| |
|be conducted during this time. | |
|Appoint consultants, design and issue |Nov 2012 to January |
|construction tenders. |2015 |
|Construction of advance infrastructure. |July 2014 to December |
| |2015 |
|Construction of dam and tunnel. |January 2016 to March |
| |2020 |
|Start impounding to 2000 Metres above sea |August 2018 |
|level (mas)l. | |
|Water Delivery to South Africa |August 2020 |
|PUMP STORAGE GOVERNMENT OF LESOTHO |
|Feasibility Study Completion |August 2012 |
|Construction of the Pump storage |January 2013 to |
|(Provisional) |December 2017 |
2) The loan capital has not been secured yet. This will be informed
by the outcome of the guarantee request which is currently under
consideration by the National Treasury. The outcome of the
decision is expected by the end of July 2012, once the Fiscus
Liability Committee of the National Treasury has made
recommendation to the Minister of Finance. The necessary Off
Take and Implementation Agreements will be entered into once the
loan capital is in place.
3) The Agreement on the Implementation of the LHWP Phase II was
signed on 11 August 2011 in Maseru between the Government of
Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa. A copy of the
Agreement will be tabled in Parliament in due course.
4) The feasibility study on the implementation of the LHWP Phase II
identified 2 550 people which equals to 534 households from 17
villages that may be directly affected and would have to be
relocated.
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