08 Sep 2016

Some Central District Council (CDC) councillors say there is need to fund projects upon approval.

When responding to the address by a member of the Presidential Inspectorate Task Team, Mr Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri recently, cllrs cited delayed disbursement of funds, equipment and lack of support from government departments as some key factors towards poor performance of some poverty eradication programmes.

Whilst some wondered if public servants were drilled enough to deliver on the programmes, other cllrs found that government delayed in disbursing funds to relevant authorities who in turn would subsequently fund the beneficiaries.

Such delays were found to have demotivated some beneficiaries whilst others simply forgot the intricacies of the project considering the time taken to fund them. 

As for lack of support, cllrs argued that without government support funded projects were destined to fail. They argued that economic diversification drive needed to be enforced. Chief in their arguments was that government departments procured outside their areas of operations and even outside the country.

The move is said to stifle local producers. Whilst cllrs agreed for the need to fund beneficiaries expeditiously, some clrs argued that some programs were implemented before all the necessities were put in place.

“There's always delays in disbursing funds to councils and other structures that assess and fund beneficiaries. It's such delays that need to be addressed so that projects implementation may improve,” said cllr Dikgang Solomon. 

The deputy council chairman Mr Ketshwereng Galeragwe said his district was faced with challenges of partly packaged projects while others are yet to commence. He appealed that CDC be allocated substantial funds since it boasts majority of the national population.

Mr Matlhabaphiri had sought cllrs contributions on implementation of government programmes and their opinions on what could be done to avert problems, if there were any. 

In so doing, Mr Matlhabaphiri appealed to cllrs to open up so he could produce a report fit enough for President's eyes. 

Amongst the questions he put forward as guides were why local products were not performing well as opposed to imported ones, whether or not there was shortage of staff for implementation, why some programs have not reached their desired goals, amongst a host of other issues.

By addressing these, he said, would help facilitate a report on the state of government programs and their performance nationally. ENDS