30 Aug 2016

The Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse has advised residents of Monwane in the Letlhakeng Sub -district that lack of a service centre in their village should not hamper them from ploughing.

Addressing a kgotla meeting at the village on Monday, Mr Autlwetse encouraged  residents to find other means of producing food in the absence of the service centre which they said was long promised their village to help them boost agricultural production.

“Lack of a service centre should not be an excuse for failure to plough because in the past our parents have been producing food without a service centre, tractors or even free seeds from government. We should know that such things are just an assistance from government and in the absence of such assistance, we should not just fold our arms and fail to produce,” he said.

Mr Autlwetse advised them not to bank on a project that was still in the plans. He was responding after residents complained that a delay to set up the long promised service centre in their village was crippling their desire of improving farming in their area.

The chairperson of the Village Development Committee, Ms Gobonamang Maiswe complained that it was worrying to the villagers that the setting-up of the long promised service centre, which was supposed to boost farming in the area known for potential production in sorghum had been postponed numerous times.

She said this was despite the fact that the plot had long been secured and cutline for the erection of the fence been cleared. In her response, the Kweneng district agricultural coordinator, Ms Khaliso Phokedi informed the residents that all the planned service centres across the country had not been started yet, citing the ones earmarked for Mabele, Tonota and Jwaneng saying they were also still pending.

She however, informed them that three tractors, which were part of the component had been in the area and helping farmers during ploughing season, and that they were only parked in Letlhakeng for security reasons, contrary to people’s belief that the centre had been relocated.

Ms Phokedi said that apart from the three tractors, they also had 25 registered private tractors in the area that could help farmers during ploughing, and that as government they found it fit to engage such private individuals to avoid taking them out of business.

She said these private tractors came in handy especially that the three government tractors were also required to assist farmers at the nearby Malwelwe cluster. Still on the same day, Mr Autlwetse addressed another kgotla meeting at Moshaweng where Kgosi Ogobonye Maruping complained about the bad state of Moshaweng-Molepolole road, which he said hampered farmers and even private truckers from transporting harvest to better markets in Molepolole.

He called for the road to be tarred to ensure easy transportation of goods. Residents in Moshaweng also advised that the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) which took over the Livestock Advisory centres should visit villages to sell essentials like animal feeds and vaccines.

In his vote of thanks, the area Member of Parliament, Mr Liakat Kablay appreciated Mr Autlwetse’s visit to his area, saying as members of parliament, they were not always better placed to respond to questions that enquired on core businesses on ministries.

Mr Kablay also appreciated government subsidy on essential items like animals feeds, fertilizers and vaccines, saying this would come in handy for the area as it wa renown for ploughing. ENDS