19 Jan 2016

Kgalagadi North Member of Parliament, Mr Itumeleng Moipisi has pleaded with government officials to closely monitor projects implementation in order to ensure their sustainability.

Addressing Hukuntsi Sub-district’s heads of department, Mr Moipisi said the government has rolled out citizen empowering programmes that require close monitoring and mentoring from policy implementers on the ground.

As policy implementers, he said, government officials need to work hand in hand with beneficiaries and urged them to refrain from neglecting their projects.

He stated that the success of the projects depended on a good rapport between beneficiaries and government officials, adding that it was important for beneficiaries to be encouraged to establish sustainable markets for their businesses.

He noted that a lot of beneficiaries, particularly in settlements, were illiterate and need mentorship on how to operate their projects to sustain themselves.  He said it has surfaced that there was lack of commitment from some beneficiaries, which resulted in the collapse of their projects.

“Some beneficiaries leave their projects unattended for easy income generating means, something that calls for intervention from government officials to motivate beneficiaries on the essence of project management,” he said.

Furthermore, the area legislator decried the slow implementation of some community development projects in the district, citing the proposed Lehututu brick-molding project and the Phuduhudu cultural village.

He said it was disappointing that the brick-molding project was moving at a snail’s pace even though funds amounting to over P2 million have been secured to finance the project.  

The project, he said, has the potential not only to create jobs, but to also contribute towards giving the sub-district a major face lift.

Mr Moipisi said the cultural village would, upon its completion, be a cultural product that would improve tourism in the Western Kgalagadi Conservation Corridor.

He said Kgalagadi was an untapped tourism destination with great tourism opportunities that range from game drives and landscape viewing.

The establishment of the cultural village, he said, was important in preserving the cultural integrity of local people by empowering them with necessary skills that could uplift them from poverty.

He appealed for government officials to speed up the implementation of such projects in order to empower the locals to sustain themselves. BOPA