Lesotho project
Project progress
Lawyers challenging poverty
Project progress archive
Second project lawyer appointed
29 July 2009
Earlier in July we found and appointed a second local project lawyer to join Qach and Adrian on the Lesotho legal team, and help share the increasing workload arising from the project. Mpoi Leuta is a female Basotho lawyer and will start working full-time with Qach in August.
Over the last month, Qach has been working hard as the project gathers momentum. Several more pitsos have been held, especially around the Katse catchment area. In particular, Qach returned to Mapeleng, the village of Chief Khetang, to find that the community are still suffering adverse effects from seismic activity associated with the construction of the Katse dam.
The main grievance of the villagers is a lack of sufficient drinking water after the established water sources dried up one by one following the seismic activity. Now the only sources of water are far away from the village and often become clogged with mud and rubbish. The seismic activity also caused large cracks to develop in the ground, running from the dam area through the village, and leading to the damage and collapse of several houses.
Qach has drafted a legal opinion on the obligations of the LHDA to compensate affected communities and will be looking further into current available domestic legal mechanisms for compensation.
The project has been named ‘Seinoli’, the Sesotho word for the malachite kingfisher, a bird found in and around the Katse dam area.
All project updates
Who we are What we do Get involved Resources Contact Site map Links Jobs News archive
The Protimos Foundation is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales No. 03998496
The Protimos Educational Trust is a registered charity No. 1086388 and company limited by guarantee No. 04173340