08 Jun 2014

The acting Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi has informed residents of Nata that government cannot afford to build health facilities in schools.

The minister was responding to residents’ request during President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s kgotla meeting on June 5 that government should consider building clinics in schools or closer to the schools.

The residents said students could be attended to within the school facility and not miss lessons while at public facilities. Mr Masisi further explained that there was an arrangement with the Ministry of Health (MoH) for nursing staff from local facilities to visit schools to do general examination on students.

He added that there had been an advert running in which the ministry wanted to employ full time nurses who would be based in schools during this current financial year.

Earlier on in his address, President Khama also emphasised that in this financial year, government through MoH was going to focus on refurbishment and maintenance of health facilities across the country together with their fleets of ambulances so that services at health facilities could be improved.

The President lamented that many projects were for the past five years deferred due to the recession, which affected the economy and it was for this reason that since it was starting to improve, government aimed to take up projects that were once deferred.

Meanwhile, the Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson, Mr Gobusamang Ntshese requested that the number of people employed under the Ipelegeng programme be increased to 150 from the current 89.

The VDC chairperson noted with concern that they had long been promised the construction of a new clinic in their village since the current structure needed serious maintenance and also too small to accommodate their population.

In response, the President said the residents should not dwell on working for Ipelegeng only, but instead they should consider other programmes, which the government has introduced to help them earn a better living.

“The government has introduced poverty eradication, Youth Development Fund (YDF), LIMID among others for you to make use and not to turn to only one programme as the only source of empowerment,” he said. ENDS