06 Oct 2014

Government will not pay parents any allowance for taking care of their children.

Local government minister, Mr Peter Siele said in Molepolole recently that the Children’s Act mandated both biological parents of a child to provide good care for their young ones.

Minister Siele was responding to a resident who had pleaded with government to pay an allowance to parents sitting in the schools Parents Teachers Association (PTA) as a move to incentivise participation in the structure.

“You cannot bear a child and expect government the next day to pay you to raise that child. So far there are no plans to pay any allowance to PTAs in the near future. The truth must be told even though we are in an election year, raising kids remains the sole responsibility of a parent,” he said during a kgotla meeting addressed by President  Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama last week.

In the same meeting water affairs and mineral resources minister, Mr Kitso Mokaila told residents that Molepolole had been allocated P11 million to improve water distribution especially refurbishing pipes.

Some resident had earlier complained that although water is available in their village, pipes frequently burst and as such hinder distribution to some areas of the village.

Mr Gaatsalelwe Nkunyane asked government to give small farmers donkeys as draught power since there was a dire shortage of tractors countrywide while Ms Kesego Morwagole complained that farmers could not afford the half down payment required for fencing ploughing fields.

Agriculture assistant minister, Mr Oreeditse Molebatsi, in response encouraged small farmers to use their donkeys and plant accordingly so that they earn P800 per hectare from government.

He also encouraged them to form clusters so that they benefit from a free fencing policy whose labour is even paid for by government through Ipelegeng while the same cluster can also drill a borehole at government’s expense.

Earlier in Lekgwapheng, one Mr Tiroentle Pheto had asked government to amend the law to ease the burden on main kgotla of a village so that other dikgotla could be upgraded to the level of records instead of arbitration.

President Khama had, between Lekgwapheng and Bokaa kgotla, donated 60 chairs, around 100 blankets, sets of football kits and bibles. Ends