|
|
|
Saturday, October 31, 2009 |
|
LUSIP - Tertiary Distribution System Phase 1(b) - phase two of a poverty alleviation scheme
:: News
|
 |
Source: Derek du Plessis
Phase one of this poverty alleviation scheme designed to bring water to the dry lowveld area of Swaziland was completed in February 2009.
In June 2009 the second phase commenced, with S&B Civils Roads, a division of the Stefanutti Stocks Group, being awarded the 21-month tertiary distribution system project to supply irrigation water for 5 700 ha of land.
The scope of works during phase two includes the construction of 16 irrigation off-takes spanning 96 km. This comprises:
• 56 km of pipeline, ranging from 200 mm UPVC to 700 mm GRP;
• valve stations;
• a single pump station; and
• 60 balancing dams fed from theLUSIP phase one primary and secondary canal supplies.
The people in this area are currently the poorest in the country and the aim is to transform the local economy from subsistence farming into sustainable commercial agriculture, thus uplifting their standard of living. About 2 618 households are expected to benefit directly from the project activities and generally include smallholder farmers, mainly involved in sugarcane farming, cotton, maize and other high value crops under irrigation. The real long
term benefits will only be appreciated, once the crops are planted during November 2009 and harvested later in 2010.
250 local labour from the various chiefdoms have been employed, with training and skills development an ongoing focus. “We have also set up a clinic run by a qualified sister,” says Derek du Plessis, director of the Swaziland Roads & Earthworks operation. “The clinic has been well received and takes care of entry and exit medicals, AIDS testing and counseling, as well as the treatment of minor injuries and ailments”.
Remote bushveld, spanning 96 km of rough terrain, makes supervision on this project difficult, however good
communication and forward planning is resolving this challenge. Access remains a challenge with the project crossing existing farmer association lands. This necessitates ongoing negotiations and compensations, relocations and grave exhumations. Furthermore construction water and suitable material sources are scarce, but this is being addressed and managed. “Nevertheless, despite the challenges of working in such a remote and wide-spread location, the project is progressing well,” says Derek, “and we are currently on target, with fifteen of the sixty dams and three of the off-takes complete”.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|