25 Oct 2015

Francistown councillors have been encouraged to make valuable and meaningful contributions towards proposed projects that will transform the city into a regional hub in the coming six years. 

Addressing special full council on Friday October 23, Francistown City mayor Ms Silvia Muzila said it was very important to use those opportunities provided by the proposed projects to effectively contribute to their vision.

Ms Muzila also informed councillors that the total amount of the proposed projects that she presented to them was approximately over P6 billion.

She explained that in the previous speech some of the issues such as poverty eradication, local economic development and sustainable development were not addressed however she urged them that this time around they have to capture them on their submission.

Ms Muzila said the city has encountered challenges of poor storm water drainages which cause the city to flood during the rainy season causing damage to people`s property.

She stated that issues raised in the kgotla meetings were the bad smell that came from old sewerage systems.

In addition Ms Muzila said the community has raised a concern regarding the spillages from old pipes which have now become a health hazard.

Further, she encouraged councillors to address all issues very urgently adding that in relation to the issue they also need to maintain the Mambo Treatment plant for it to be effective.

Ms Muzila said un-serviced land in the city  also needs to be addressed as among priorities in their effort to develop the city.

She said on the same platform there is need to continue servicing the land at Gerald Estates as the community needs more plots for residential, commercial and industrial purposes.

“As we continue to attract the investors into our city on the other hand, we need such plots where they will reside and where they will operate their businesses,’’ said Ms Muzila.

Another area of concern Ms Muzila said, is streets lighting adding this  issue has been raised in every full council meeting that the city is not adequately lit. 

 She noted that this aspect has been included in their submission and those areas that have no streetlights have been addressed.

Furthermore she said other projects that are putting the community under pressure include among others, a primary hospital, the youth centre, development of parks, the weigh bridge, dual lining of internal roads and upgrading dust roads to bitumen standards.

She said with regard to health facilities they always wished to increase the number of those that are operating 24 hours so as to bring services more closely to the people to also reduce congestion at the clinics.

For his part former Francistown City mayor Mr James Kgalajwe commented that some of the projects take long time to be implemented and urged them to take that into consideration.

He encouraged councillors to make Francistown an investment centre through their Vision 2022 and show the world that Francistown is indeed the city of investment destiny. ENDS