Rehabilitated water network reaches Lesotho village
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Public Eye
Illustrative image · Fikelephi Ndisile · Pexels · Licence PexelsA rehabilitated drinking-water network now serves Masuoaneng, a village in Lesotho’s south-eastern highlands, where residents previously had to travel long distances to obtain water. The work, valued at 250,000 maloti, was handed over on Thursday by the Regeneration of Landscapes and Livelihoods initiative, implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
The village of Masuoaneng, in Lesotho’s south-eastern highlands, now has a rehabilitated drinking-water network. The system, officially handed over on Thursday by the Regeneration of Landscapes and Livelihoods (ROLL) initiative, cost 250,000 maloti and is expected to give residents direct access to water from taps, according to Public Eye.
The project was funded through the Lesotho Lowlands Rural Water Supply and Sanitation programme, which focuses on expanding access to water and sanitation in rural communities. Before the rehabilitation, women in Masuoaneng would get up at around 3am to walk to often-contaminated springs and risk returning without water.
Lesotho exports around 780 million cubic metres of water to South Africa each year, but domestic access remains highly unequal. Coverage of safely managed drinking-water services stands at 31% nationally, while it is 80% in rural areas and 97% in urban areas, according to data cited by ROLL.
