15 Jul 2015

The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Eric Molale has appealed to the private sector to partner with government bodies to promote service delivery.

Speaking during a disability workshop presented by Boitekanelo College on Monday in Mabule and Sekhutlane, Mr Molale said some private enterprises have specially designed facilities that the government does not have.

Mr Molale commended Boitekanelo College for meeting the government half way through offering its services to meet the ever growing healthcare needs of the public.

“The Ministry of Health needs support in terms of resources and skilled manpower and their working together with Boitekanelo College will create improvements in healthcare service delivery,” he said.

He said through such associations with leading business industries, the government would be in a better position to extend services closer to citizens.

He noted that the government has put in place various programmes to ensure that citizens live dignified lives, adding that because of shortage of resources, efforts were thwarted thus affecting service delivery.

On other issues, Mr Molale said People Living With Disability (PWD’s) have been neglected for a long time since they were not covered in most government programmes.

He said times have changed and that they have to be accommodated in all government programmes for them to live dignified lives.

He said through Boitekanelo College’s assistance, PWD’s would be profiled and screened to seek proper medical attention to prevent more cases of disability. He also implored caretakers to ensure healthy diets for PWD’s for them to stay healthy.

For his part, Poverty Eradication coordinator in the Office of the President, Mr Olebile Gaborone said it has come to their attention that poverty eradication developments were lagging behind in the Good Hope-Mabule constituency.

He added that every citizen has the right to benefit from poverty eradication programmes. Mr Gaborone implored residents to desist from applying for the same poverty eradication packages, adding that  their businesses would not flourish.

He further implored Social and Community Development (S&CD) officers to ensure that they procure all the necessary equipment for beneficiaries to kick-start their businesses on time.

Outlining objectives of the day, the coordinator for people with disabilities from the Office of the President, Mr Thomas Motingwa said people living with disabilities were not serviced fairly despite government policies in place.

He said their aim was to profile and screen all people living with disabilities in order for them to be sent to rehabilitation when the need arises.

He said they have about 3 000 people living with disabilities countrywide and that the number was an indication that they were not assessed properly at a tender age.

Assessment at a tender age, he said, assists children born with disability to be treated with the assistance from health partners such as Boitekanelo College clinic.

He also urged all departments to ensure that they create an able environment for people living with disabilities to access all government programmes to uplift their livelihoods.

In addition, he said caretakers should not be exempted from benefiting from poverty eradication programmes. He suggested that they should be given viable projects that would keep them closer to the patient.

In a side interview, Boitekanelo College founder and president, Dr Tiro Mampane said chronic diseases were of concern and that they could be reduced and prevented. He said they were obliged to serve the nation diligently on issues pertaining to health.

He said their aim was to traverse the country to educate the public about healthy lifestyles, particularly the elderly and young children. In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Morota Tiro lauded MOPAPA for a sterling performance by speeding service delivery in their village.

He also urged public servants to perform their duties diligently by bringing services closer to the public and also lauded Boitekanelo College for taking a bold step in promoting healthy lifestyles.ends