15 May 2014

Government has assisted more than 15 000 beneficiaries through the Poverty Eradication Programme, the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso said on Wednesday, May 15.

Addressing a kgotla meeting at Lokgwabe in the Hukuntsi Sub District, Ms Tshireletso said the beneficiaries’ projects were testimony that the government was doing all that was necessary to ensure that household’s standard of living was above a minimum acceptable level of income.

Ms Tshireletso said the government was committed to uplifting the livelihoods of poor people.

As a result, she said, the government initiated several programmes, among them the Poverty Eradication Programme, to dignify those who are less privileged in the society.

Ms Tshireletso said it was expected that the Poverty Eradication Programme would empower beneficiaries to graduate out of poverty.

She said Poverty eradication guidelines had been developed to empower the beneficiaries during-decision-making processes in selection and management of projects to enhance knowledge and ensure the core principles of transparency and objectivity were inherent in the programme.

Through the Poverty Eradication Programme, she said, the government had been able to provide sustainable economic development assistance to many Batswana, particularly in rural areas where unemployment was rife.

She explained that the programme had to be executed in consultation with the intended beneficiaries to identify opportunities for self-reliance that were built on their interests, abilities and the micro-environment. She called on Lokgwabe residents to tap into the citizen economic empowerment.

She said government officers in the Hukuntsi Sub District must ensure a smooth roll-out of the programme to the communities. She added that it was worrying that some programme did not reach the intended beneficiaries because public officers were not doing their work. ENDS