15 Sep 2016

Some Ngamiland councillors have expressed disappointment there were no projects under Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources in the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP).

The minister, Mr Kitso Mokaila, said ESP was meant to stimulate sectors which could create employment for the communities.

He said this when responding to some comments from councillors who wanted to know what ESP had for the district under his ministry.

Councillors said they had high hopes that the programme would come up with projects that would address some of the water challenges in the district.

But Mr Mokaila explained that the programme could not be implemented where there was no water and electricity hence they came up with developments where they were needed.

He stated that  government was committed to improving the livelihoods through the electrification project, which he said wass ongoing in 12 villages  while in 24 villages, electricity network extensions was conducted.

He said they had covered 80 per cent of the villages in Botswana adding that they were doing a study with a certain company from Germany to see how best they could assist the remaining 20 per cent of villages with solar power.

Despite efforts by the government to improve access to electricity by electrifying many villages, Mr Mokaila said there was still a challenge of low numbers on household connections which had been attributed mostly to high costs for connection.

“This is worrisome because we spent millions to bring electricity services closer to the people and you will find only few households connected”. 

Earlier on, Cllr Gaopalelwe Ronald said he was expecting a lot from the programme as the district was experiencing a severe water shortage. 

He said some of the projects spearheaded by other ministries under ESP were affected by the water crisis and he hoped that the relevant ministry would take advantage of the programme to improve the situation.

“Some projects under ESP have come to standstill because of water shortage even some government initiatives geared towards improving the livelihoods of the communities are negatively impacted by water shortage,” he added. He said although some beneficiaries had made efforts but their projects are not progressing as expected.

Meanwhile, the ESP coordinator, Ms Goitsemang Morekisi recently told Sehithwa community that 46 projects were earmarked for North West district under Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP).

The community also learnt that the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources was working on network extension in Sehithwa and Bothatogo. ENDS