{
  "id": 14881858,
  "title": "Lesotho: Is Construction At the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Polluting Rivers?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/lesotho-is-construction-at-the-lesotho-highlands-water-project",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-16T05:40:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "AllAfrica",
    "slug": "allafrica",
    "url": "https://allafrica.com/stories/202610160085.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) will investigate suspected pollution flowing through the Sekoai River near a construction site of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Construction has halted due to allegations of acid and oily wastewater being discharged into nearby rivers and the Katse reservoir, which supplies drinking water to South Africa. The contractor responsible for the site, Kopano Ke Matla Joint Venture, was suspended in May 2025 for similar violations, and allowed to resume work last year after upgrading their wastewater treatment system. However, during a visit to the site in August, wastewater was observed discharging continuously from an outlet pipe onto land before reaching the river. The LHDA has referred the evidence of suspected pollution to the project engineer for inspection and testing.",
  "summary": "[GroundUp] The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority will refer suspected pollution for testing",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "GroundUp",
        "title": "Is construction at the Lesotho Highlands Water project polluting rivers?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/is-construction-at-the-lesotho-highlands-water-project-polluting",
        "published": "2026-10-16T03:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}