11 Nov 2015

Ntlo ya Dikgosi chairperson, Kgosi Puso, says more work should be done to educate people water usage. 

He said dikgosi should take the responsibility of sensitising people about water usage and should use forums such as kgotla meetings to explain to residents that the country was facing serious challenges of water shortage. 

Kgosi Puso said this while he and other members of Ntlo Ya Dikgosi toured Dikgatlhong and Letsibogo Dams recently where they learnt that the dams were 70 per cent and 39 per cent full respectively. 

Dikgatlhong, which has a water holding capacity of 400 million cubic meters, is currently holding 280 million cubic meters while Letsibogo, with a water holding capacity of 100 million cubic metres, is holding 39 million cubic metres. 

He commended government for making it possible to provide water from Dikgatlhong Dam through the North South Carrier to the southern part of the country.  

Kgosi Puso also touched the issue of SPEDU’s tourism projects such as lodges planned for the area in the vicinity of dams saying they would create employment. 

He noted that the projects would help diversify the economy and contribute to sustainable development. 

Meanwhile Kgosi Mosadi of Balete echoed sentimenyts that though there was enough water in Dikgatlhong Dam, people should not waste water. 

She said people should be more sensitised and information regarding water usage and the water levels in the dams should continue to be disseminated so that Batswana could have a better understanding of the situation. 

She said though the media had been playing a major role in informing people about water preservation, other means of communication such as kgotla and VDC meetings should be put in place to reach out to the people. 

For his part Kgosi Maruje III said government’s idea to have agriculture and horticulture projects in the vicinity of the dams would help produce food for the country. 

He said in areas where water was available cluster farming should be encouraged. He said farmers should also aim to commercialise and take  farming very serious. 

He also noted that government, through the ISPAAD programme, should consider injecting more funds and investing in farmers by purchasing or subsidising provision of commercial farming irrigation systems. 

He said government should also assist farmers to fence the perimeter of cluster fields adding that such a move would grow the agriculture sector. 

He also mentioned that farmers in the SPEDU region already have market available for their produce at the Horticulture Processing Plant in Selebi Phikwe. 

In the meantime, the Ntlo Ya Dikgosi delegation visited the SPEDU region as part of their initiative of taking services to the people, appreciating projects being undertaken to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development. 

Their visit was meant to get first hand information on how the projects in region will help diversify the economy of the region and the country as a whole. Ends