31 Aug 2014

Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu has requested residents of Dagwi to help government provide accommodation for public officers.

Addressing a kgotla meeting at Dagwi recently, Mr Batshu noted that government alone could not afford to build houses for civil servants and it was for that reason that it decided to call on the public and private sector to build houses which they could rent out to officers.

Mr Batshu, who is also Member of Parliament for Nkange, said when responding to a request by the village development committee secretary, Mr Ontlogetse Dobela who said they were in urgent need of a house to accommodate their second nurse.

Mr Dobela had said if the nurse could not get accommodation in the village, she might be moved to where there was accommodation.

The minister explained that although the arrangement to help some members of the public with land and funding from financial institutions such as National Development Bank (NDB) was not yet implemented due to some requests from other financial institutions, the arrangement however still stands. 

He added that those who had houses and those who could get funding on their own should go ahead and build houses which they will rent out to government. 

“We cannot allow a situation whereby an officer will have to return or delay to relocate to a place because there is no accommodation, let it be us who help in finding accommodation for these officers,” he said.

He further noted that the VDC as well should take advantage of the fact that a decision was made by government for connecting power in their houses at a standard cost. This, he said, was also aimed at empowering them to have houses which civil servants could rent.

Meanwhile, residents complained that Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and Water Utilities Corporation's (WUC) different village maps confused them because when one applied for installation, the BPC sometimes stated that they were out of the map while WUC connected water in the same area.

A resident, Mr Boy Chipaladza said because both corporations have realised that there is confusion regarding their distribution maps, they have never made an effort to come to them and set up a meeting to explain to the public why they differ.

In addition, he proposed that because farmers have produced good yields during the last ploughing season, instead of relying on Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) to buy the produce, an arrangement should be made for schools to buy from farmers rather than have tenders for supplying food at schools.

In response, MP Batshu said he will communicate with the two corporations for them to have a meeting with the residents and explain the differences regarding their distribution maps. 

He also said he will communicate with relevant authorities to have farmers sell their produce directly to schools.

He, nonetheless, informed them that during the winter Parliament session, 14 laws were passed among them; the Anti-human Trafficking Bill and Counter Terrorism Bill which is aimed at protecting the country against terrorist acts by terrorists groups. ENDS