Nteboheleng Thamae

A M9.4 million project to connect rural homes in Sehlabeng-sa-Thuathe (Thuathe Plateau) to piped water has been abandoned by contractors who are demanding funds to complete the work which, they argue, was increased over the course of the 12-month contract. The government is having none of this saying no more funds will be paid until the contractor delivers on the work agreed to. While a blame game ensues, the reality for these rural communities is that many homes are still waiting to be connected and, those that are connected, get water intermittently. Water only flows from their taps when it rains.

When the contractor, which is a joint venture between two companies, Pyramid and Investec, abandoned the project in March last year, it also left irate workers claiming they were owed money for work done. The contractor admits to have abandoned the project without paying workers their monthly salaries.

MNN can now reveal that Lesotho’s water and sewerage company (WASCO) has advised the Ministry of Natural Resources, formerly Ministry of Water, to terminate the Pyramid and Investec contract for failure to  complete the M9.4million water project. WASCO wants a new company to be brought in to complete the work. 

The agreement, according to WASCO’s Manager Projects Planning and Studies, Lehlohonolo Ncheke, was that the contractor would connect piped water from Metolong Dam to 1031 households with 13176.02 metre pipeline and complete the work by December 31, 2022. 

However, by the December 2022 deadline the contractor had spent 90 percent of the project total cost. They wanted the remaining funds to connect the remaining households. The remaining households have become central to this stand off. WASCO claims that there are 161 outstanding  homes that need to be connected and should have been connected by the December 2022 deadline. The contractor, through its project manager, Mokete Sekoati,

says there are more than 200 outstanding homes to connect because the number of connections ballooned by 210 over and above the number agreed to at the start of the project.   WASCO does not appear to recognise this increased number of connections. 

Assistant to Ha Tumo village chief, Sefora Phaqane told MNN that even in Ha Senekane to Ha Taaso villages where connections were made successful, water woes are still persistent. This is because water only comes out of the connected taps when it rains forcing villagers to draw from unprotected sources or to travel long distances for clean water sources. Sekoati told MNN that this was not the contractor’s fault or responsibility. The state water and sewerage company, WASCO, confirms this saying that water supply is restricted for people to be sensitised on billing before full supply is launched.

This issue began in June 2021 when the then Ministry of Water awarded the Metolong Conveyance Tertiary Lines Lot 6 water connection project for Senekane Community Council villages in Sehlabeng-sa-Thuathe, to Pyramid and Investec under the supervision of WASCO and the Rural Water Supply department.

However, on February 12 this year, almost a year after the contractors walked off site, MNN visited Ha Taaso, one of the villages which was supposed to benefit from this project. During our visit, we saw open furrows which had been dug and left near some households and on the road.

Two disgruntled workers, Khothatso Ramakhabe and Ranthare Taaso, from Ha-Taaso told MNN that, together with their other coworkers, the contractor left without paying them.  They say they are owed full salary for February last year amounting to M2,515.00 per person. “We depended on this salary as we had left our site jobs to commit to the project,” they said.

After the contractor abandoned the project, Chief Thabiso Khalema of Piting village told MNN that some main pipes were left bent and not connected to any tap and some villagers connected to their respective households by themselves. Moreover, he added that some taps were left without meter boxes. Another chief Tumane Phelane of Ha-Taaso said their access roads are closed due to open furrows, forcing them to leave their cars in one of the local church premises.

In an interview with MNN,  one of the directors of Pyramid and Investec, Poloko Kunene, said for the company to settle unpaid salaries to workers, the government was to give him variation to enable them to claim payment of the work done, which would then be used to settle these debts.

However, Sekoati said he left the project as there was always either a delay in provision of or shortage in the quantity of requested materials. The last straw, according to him, was when he waited for three months without materials and that’s when he decided to put the project on hold. 

“This raised a question on proper management of project funds by my employer,” he said.

Having stopped the operations, Sekoati said he would still go back to the villages for maintenance even though at the time of our interview he reiterated that he now fears for his life because wherever he meets community members, they want answers as they only knew him and believed he was the one in charge, adding that his three months’ salary was also not paid.

On his part, Kunene (director of Pyramid and Investec) confirmed that their company ceased operations at Sehlabeng early in December 2022 without any explanation to the communities on incomplete work. 

Kunene said since September last year, they have been waiting for the funds from the Department of Rural Water Supply which were promised by the current director to complete work and pay the outstanding employees’ salaries.

But Director Department of Rural Water Supply Letele Motlomelo, denied this and told MNN that no funds had been  promised to the contractor. He added that their work was just to oversee the government funds in the project as co-supervisors with WASCO, who were main supervisors.

Motlomelo added that they only met with the contractor to get clarity on their stance on the incomplete work which the contractor said they are waiting to source funds to be able to complete.

When MNN started asking questions on May 3 about this project, WASCO was not forthcoming with answers but on July 1, MNN learned that the government is considering terminating Pyramid and Investec contract. 

Speaking to MNN, Ncheke (WASCO’s Manager Projects Planning and Studies) said they approached the office of the principal secretary for the Ministry of Natural Resources to engage another contractor to complete the remaining work with the remaining funds. He said they are still working on notifying Pyramid and Investec of these changes.