09 Jun 2013

Government will assist individual farmers to fence their ploughing fields as opposed to cluster fencing.

Member of Parliament for South East South Mr Odirile Motlhale said this during series of kgotla meetings he addressed in his constituency recently.

He told his constituents that unlike before, where farmers were encouraged to come together and qualify as a cluster for fencing, each individual would qualify for government fencing scheme.

However, he said each farmer would be required to contribute a portion towards the fencing project.

“There will be a standard price for fencing, and you will be required to pay part of the money,” Mr Motlhale said.

The MP said the government came with the standard price for fencing because it has emerged that many people have the tendency to overprice when the government is involved in buying process.

He said this is part of the government to improve the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD) and ultimately farming.

On other farming issues, Mr Motlhale said the government has approved integrated farming.

He said this will allow farmers an opportunity to carry various farming activities in one area but noted that they must conform to the set standards.

Mr Motlhale also informed the residents that government was still faced with shortage of funds and most of the national projects are still shelved.

Hence he said the residents ought to know that the government budget is constrained even though they can still propose new projects and air their views on delayed projects.

For their part, the residents commended their MP for fighting for the proposed land policy, in which residents are likely to be given a quota during allocation of plots.

They promised to support their parliamentarian, saying the current scenario disadvantages them as people want to settle around the city and compete equally with them for plots.

Whilst others said the current scenario where allocation of residential plot has no regard for residents would destroy the identity of most of the tribes around the city. ENDS