07 Dec 2015

The government is working round the clock to resolve the situation of acute water shortage prevailing in the country, specially elected MP who is also the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Mr Kitso Mokaila has said.

Contributing to the debate on the State of the Nation Address in Parliament, Mr Mokaila said that both long and short term measures are in place to ensure that the availability of water improves countrywide.

“The government has over the years been guided by the National Master Plan of 1990, which was reviewed over time, and a Botswana Energy and Water Regulatory Authority is being developed to oversee the water sector, as well as the energy field, including electricity, coal and gas,” he said.

Mr Mokaila said that measures such as the second phase of the North-South Water Carrier, and obtaining water supply from the Lesotho Highlands would improve Botswana’s situation in the long term, but the government was also working on improving the situation in the short term.

“We are working on improving the water supply to Gaborone and surrounding areas including Tlokweng, Mogoditshane, Kumakwane, Mmopane and other surrounding villages.  These include the drilling of boreholes and upgrade of treatment plants, and as early as mid-December villages like Mogoditshane and Tlokweng will experience better water supply,” he said.

Mr Mokaila said that the government was using different methods of improving the provision of water in the different areas of the country.

“We are drilling boreholes at the Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School and the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) SSKB camp. 

Isolating these two institutions from the general water supply to the rest of Mogoditshane would lead to better water supply in the village. 

 The trend in places that have recently had senior secondary schools built, including Mogoditshane, Good Hope, Mmadinare, Nata and Shakawe has been to experience a water shortage thereafter,” he said.

Mr Mokaila added that the country is also working on not only improving the electricity supply for the country, but also on a long term plan to make Botswana a ‘net exporter of electricity.’

For her part, Mahalapye East MP who is also the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso, said that the government should work on assisting vulnerable and marginalized people within society.

The Mahalapye East legislator said that issues around child marriage, intergenerational sex, homosexuality and prostitution should be openly debated and people less stigmatised.

Ms Tshireletso also advocated for old age homes, saying that some elders could be well taken care of financially or materially, but spend the day without any companionship.  

She also thanked various stakeholders for the manner with which they responded to the recent Matsha College students’ accident.

“It was a national tragedy to have the loss of young lives, but we were comforted by the support we received.  I must thank the Local Government, Health and Education ministries, the health facilities in Letlhakeng, Molepolole and Gaborone, as well as the parents of the students involved for their bravery during a difficult time,” she said.

The Member of Parliament for Gabane-Mmankgodi, Major General Pius Mokgware said that the government has to do more to gain public trust around matters of corruption.

 

“Accountability is essential for a healthy democracy.  We need the declaration of assets by public figures in order to win over public confidence, and the state should not at any point be seen to be seeking to influence the judiciary,” he said. Ends