01 Sep 2014

MP for Nkange, Mr Edwin Batshu, has pleaded with residents of Dagwi to help government in providing accommodation for public officers.

Addressing a kgotla meeting at the village recently, Mr Batshu noted that government alone could 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 Minister of Labour and Home Affairs said this 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 MP 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 stood. 

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

“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 can rent.

Meanwhile, residents complained that Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and Water Utilities Corporation (WUC)’s different village grids confused them because when one applied for installation, the BPC would sometimes say they fell outside the grid while WUC would connect water in the same area.

A resident, Mr Boy Chipaladza said because both corporations had realised that there was confusion regarding their distribution maps, they had to make efforts  to come to them and set up a meeting to explain to the public why they differed.

In addition, he proposed that because farmers had 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 flout tenders for supplying food at schools.

In response, MP Batshu said he would 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 would communicate with relevant authorities to have farmers sell their produce directly to schools.

He 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 acts of terrorist acts. Ends