25 Oct 2015

The Member of Parliament for Letlhakeng/Lephepe, Mr Liakat Kablay says the lives of Batswana will change for the better as the government has decided to take a more aggressive approach to improving the standard of living.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Letlhakeng recently, Mr Kablay said the government has decided to utilise some of the money in foreign reserves to stimulate the economy. He said they were of the view that once unemployment was addressed, poverty would decrease. 

He said it was the hope of the government that the move would help address youth unemployment and high levels of poverty, and assured residents that the government would avoid unnecessary spending. 

On the issue of electricity cuts, which had been experienced by the country in recent times, Mr Kablay said part of the problem emanates from the fact that some of the contractors tasked with major projects such as Morupule B have been a letdown.

“The situation is now under control because the government has hired a German contractor to stabilise the situation. The improvement is now noticeable as there have been fewer instances of power cuts,” he said

Mr Kablay said the government has decided to halt poverty eradication assessments in order to attend to the backlog of those who have already been assessed, but yet to be assisted.

He, however, urged the youth to utilise government programmes such as the Youth Development Fund to better their lives and create employment for their peers.

He also urged them to be patient as the process for funding takes time because it was meant to enhance accountability and guard against wasting resources on projects that were not viable and sustainable.

The Village Development Committee chairperson for Letlhakeng North, Mr Boikaegi Mariri complained that poverty eradication projects were slow to be handed over to beneficiaries because of the processes that applicants had to go through in order to get assistance. ENDS