23 Sep 2015

Kweneng District Council’s (KDC) quest to adopt and implement client-centric attitude through Quality Management System (QMS) has been certified by Botswana Bureau of Standard (BOBS).

Council chairperson, Mr Jeffery Sibisibi said the council had been certified under ISO 9001:2008 after meeting all requirements.  

Officially opening council session on Monday September 21, Mr Sibisibi said during 2012, when the project started, there had been criticism that the council was pursuing the unthinkable, something that had never been tried before by any government institution, but determination and dedication kept them going.

“In these past months, we received communication from Botswana Bureau of Standard (BOBS) that after satisfying all the requirements, we have been certified under ISO 9001:2008 and preparations are under way to celebrate this milestone,” he said.   

KDC took a decision to develop and implement QMS due to poor service delivery complaints from customers’ and inconsistencies in the delivery of services due to lack of standard operating procedures.

QMS will enable KDC to consistently provide service that meets customer satisfaction and applicable regulatory requirements and in the process assist council to maintain citizens’ confidence as they will be provided with quality, cost effective, transparent services in a consistent and reliable manner.

Certification to ISO 9001:2008 standard will make KDC the pioneers of QMS by any government institution the country.

On poverty eradication programme, he said, it was progressing well in the district with 352 alternative package projects for Social and Community Development operational and about 20 000 potential beneficiaries registered with KDC for considerations.

“The programme has received immense interest from the community, with a total of 19 924 people having registered with the department for consideration. However, we still face some challenges such as shortage of resources and lack of commitment by beneficiaries towards their projects,” he said.

Mr Sibisibi said from the July 2014 backlog assessment, the district had about 7 500 new registrations and during mass assessment of August 2015, a total of 5 601 potential beneficiaries had been assessed and screened.   

On other developments, he said, for years now KDC has identified the need for a fire station in district, but has not been able to construct one due to financial constraints.  

He said as such KDC has entered into a five year contract with Rural Metro Emergency Management Services Botswana to provide viable alternative for effective and efficient delivery of fire services and associated activities to the public.

The company has so far, completed recruitment of personnel, paving of the site and awaiting the arrival of fire engines. The service is planned to be launched in October this year. ENDS