09 Feb 2016

Takatokwane Member of Parliament, Mr Ngaka Ngaka has hailed government programmes intended to improve the livelihoods of Batswana.

Debating the budget speech on  Monday, Mr Ngaka said as such the government remained committed to assisting Batswana through diverse programmes.

He said the poverty eradication initiative, among others, has had a positive impact despite arguments by the opposition that it was a waste of resources.

He noted that the initiative had over 45 packages for Batswana to choose from and that many of the projects were successful. 

However, he noted that the backyard gardening initiative had a few challenges and had failed in some parts of the country.

He urged members of the opposition to desist from misleading the nation about government programmes, but to give credit to the government where it was due.

He further hailed the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP), saying it would help in addressing unemployment challenges, particularly among the youth.

On the other hand, Boteti East MP, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe said although the Minister of Finance and Development Planning had indicated that consultations on the budget were done, input from ordinary citizen was vital.

Mr Lelatisitswe argued that it was important for Batswana to have an input on the budget process in order for them to understand and appreciate what was presented to them by the minister, hence the need to spread budget pitso meetings across the country.

On ESP, he suggested that there should have been a stand-alone committee to drive the initiative and ensure implementation and monitoring for it to be a success.

He said the programme should further endeavour to address other challenges, but not only focus on the construction industry.

He added that there were a lot of youth with other qualifications who needed to benefit from it.

He said the programme should have been encompassed in the trade and industry ministry in order to drive further economic diversification and citizen empowerment.

Mr Lelatisitswe also suggested that the programme be revisited to include measures that would address challenges in the education system.

 He opined that time was nigh to introduce e-learning in schools to address challenges of shortage of books.

He further argued that the use of stationery in schools cost the government huge sums of money, hence the need to adopt technology in learning.

On the development budget, the MP expressed concern about the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security’s proposed share of the budget.

He argued that the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources should have been allocated the largest share owing to challenges of water and power that had been facing the country. Ends