08 May 2016

Residents of Matsiloje have applauded the government for listening when they appealed to the Vice President  that they needed some form of relief packages following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in their area.

Speaking in a kgotla meeting addressed by the Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse on Tuesday, the village development committee chairperson, Mr Joel Mpetsane said although no formal report has been finalised, the fact that the government is currently engaged in another assessment to determine how the residents were affected was an appreciated development.

“Considering our plea during VP’s visit is an indication that our government cooperates with us and even if we do not get anything, we will be just thankful that a thorough assessment was done because solving a problem starts with appreciating that indeed there is a problem,” said Mr Mpetsane.

He further explained that the villagers had complained that despite that 70 per cent of the Dikgatlhong Dam is in Matsiloje areas, people were denied fishing rights but after VP’s visit, some of the residents of Matsiloje and Matopi were allocated fishing nets as part of the Poverty Eradication Programme and application of licenses was on-going.

On a different note, Mr Mpetsane decried that some farmers whose crops were destroyed by elephants in the 2014/15 ploughing season have not yet been compensated, adding that this discouraged the concerned farmers to plough again this season.

Another resident, Ms Margaret Machola complained that the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) officials take long before attending to reports and she suggested that instead farmers from Matopi and Matsiloje should be allowed to utilise the Francistown instead of Masunga office.

Mr Simon Lephalo complained of cross border crime, adding the current police station does not have capacity to deal with the situation.

He noted that the construction of a bigger police station has been deferred as far back as the 1980s and the government was giving no explanation.

The North East District Commissioner, Mr Keabetswe Lesiela explained that the construction of the police station was deferred due to recession but it still remains in the priority list of projects. ENDS