25 Nov 2015

Specially elected MP, Mr Eric Molale has told Parliament that the country has been founded on good principles aimed at ensuring that resources allocated reach a larger proportion of citizens.

Responding to The-State-of -the-Nation Addresss (SONA) on Tuesday, he said despite challenges such as per capita cost of development, government did the best and this has stood the test of time over the past 49 years.

In this regard, Mr Molale said the government is determined to continue on that path with more improvements to the system that has sustained Batswana thus far.

He said the recently announced Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) is one such a noble programme meant to sustain development through diversified economic growth.

Mr Molale said the ESP is a result of the six years of an economic slump and as the country goes out of it, the strategy had to be brought to stimulate the economy. “It is unfortunate that some make fun out of the programme that is meant to stimulate the economy,” he said.

He said the programme should not frighten anyone as it is clearly explained and further said ESP is meant to ensure that jobs are created and a bigger portion of the programme ensures that citizens purchase locally to further stimulate growth.

“These are some of the things that will bear testimony to the fact that BDP government has always had a good programme of managing the economy and ensuring we account for what we do,” he said.

He further expressed disappointment on opposition members who, he said have a haphazard way of talking aimlessly to degrade and dismiss everything that government was doing, preaching hopelessness and despair amongst the citizens, blaming everybody and everything that is pro-government as well as misleading people into believing that BDP government was useless.

He said the opposition has a tendency to reflect a Botswana that is ungovernable and a situation where people should give up on the government.

“Where there is nothing to oppose, personality attacks come to the fore, attacks derived of issues that run against our culture,” he said.

For his part, Molepolole South MP, Dr Tlamelo Mmatli complained that government’s corrupt practises and lack of accountability on public funds has failed Batswana.

He said it was clear that the country has available funds but cannot utilise appropriately adding that the BDP government was good at preaching empty promises and stated that that SONA did not offer anything new, except the ESP.

Dr Mmatli said the ESP was not clear as to what it offers, how it will be done and that a large portion of land was not serviced that could be used for the said manufacturing.
He further complained of bad roads in Molepolole and lack of storm-water drainage systems and called for provision of linen at Scottish Livingstone Hospital (SLH).

Dr Mmatli said Molepolole was in dire need of a 24-hour clinic to alleviate congestion at SLH as the hospital was only meant for referrals. He also proposed a study to look into why failure rate was increasing in schools – suggesting that the automatic promotion was worsening the situation.

Furthermore Dr Mmatli complained that unemployment was perpetuated by the fact that most firms in his constituency were closed and were now being used as churches. Letlhakeng-Lephephe MP, Mr Liakat Kablay decried shortage of water in villages such as Boatlaname, Shadishadi and Maratswane, among others in his constituency.

He said the situation was very bad and something needed to be done urgently more so that water was scarce in this scorching heat.  

Mr Kablay said boreholes had dried up while sometimes trucks that supply water in that area broke down on their way, something which made the situation worse.

Furthermore, Mr Kablay noted that the water shortage situation had affected the learning process in some of the schools because sometimes students come to school and are released earlier because there would be no water to cook for them.

On another issue, the Letlhakeng-Lephephe MP said land allocation process in his area was very slow despite availability of land.  Ends