09 Sep 2014

Members of the Mababe Zokotsama Community Development Trust have been advised to take advantage of using renewable sources such as solar energy to run their businesses.

Speaking during the handing over of two street lights which use solar energy to Kgosietsile Primary School, Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) executive secretary, Mr Ketlhomilwe Moletsane encouraged the trust to buy lamps that use solar energy for Standard 7 students to enable them to read even at night.

Mr Moletsane said definitely his request could not be regarded as far-fetched considering how the trust had been able to bring about better livelihoods in the Village.

The two street lights were donated by BALA in partnership with Delta Manufacturers, hence the BALA executive explained that the donation came as result of a decision taken from the BALA conference held in Maun in May this year to give back to the community and the hosting district is the beneficiary.

He also observed that BALA was also celebrating 30 years of existence thus the association saw it fit to make a difference in the community’s lives. 

He urged the school management and the community at large to look after the street lights as they would improve the quality of education in the school and the community’s lives at large. He said the community could take advantage of the street lights to generate more funds by organising cultural and entertainment activities since their village wa a tourist destination. 

Mr Moletsane also raised a concern about the rate of vandalism of electricity infrastructure in Botswana, saying such incidents had adverse effects on the quality of supply to customers, as well as being a threat to human lives. 

He said among the renewable energy sources, solar had proved to be a sustainable choice and one can be used in various applications adding that Ngamiland communities were very lucky as the have someone in the region who supply the electrical products that use solar energy which are manufactured from Germany. 

He said some people were now tapping into the alternative source of energy, hoping to benefit from its numerous advantages. He indicated that using a solar panel was very beneficial as one did not pay huge amounts of money for electricity except getting his electricity free from the sun.

Mr Moletsane urged the chief executive officer of Delta Manufactures to assemble a plant in Botswana so that he could create jobs for the locals. 

He said the plant would be ideal as local students could learn new skills and apply them to start their own businesses.

“We have a plot in Palapye, as such we could team up and see how best we could use it to establish a plant with a view to making a difference in our communities,” he added.

Earlier on the chairperson of the Mababe Primary School Parents and Teachers Association (PTA), Mr Mompati Barutegi said the school was faced with a lot of challenges such as the lack of resources which hindered the teachers from executing their mandate diligently.

He said the lack of electricity in the school was a serious concern that could affect the school performance, adding that free movement of elephants and buffaloes in the area was a concern as they cut the fence and pose a danger to pupils. 

Mr Barutegi pointed out that, despite the challenges, the school management had defied the odds as the school continued to excel academically, indicating that last year they performed exceptionally well. ENDS