09 Jan 2017

 The Palapye leadership forum has resolved that Palapye be declared a township so that it does not share its budget with surrounding villages.

Palapye Administrative Authority budget is shared amongst 27 surrounding villages including Palapye.

MP for Tswapong North and Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Mr Prince Maele, MP for Serowe North and Assistant Minister of Agriculture Mr Kgotla Autlwetse and MP for Palapye also Assistant Minister of Basic Education Mr Moiseraele Goya agreed in a leadership forum held in Palapye on Thursday that Palapye should be declared a township.

Mr Maele said Palapye is growing at a fast pace with an increasing population.

He said looking at the complexity of Palapye, it should not share its budget with surrounding 26 villages.

He said Palapye on its own should have its own budget separate from other villages as a result the time has come for Palapye to be declared a town.

Mr Autlwetse also shared the sentiments saying that during his time as a councillor, Central District Councillors passed a motion for Palapye to be declared a township.

He said it is not good for Palapye to be sharing the development budget with surrounding villages because Palapye’s population is big.

Even though it is understandable that the budget for Palapye Administrative Authority is not enough to carry out developments in all the 27 villages, he said it is good to do with a small budget.

Mr Autlwetse said it is dangerous to have a deficit amounting to more than seven per cent, adding that this was taken into consideration when drawing the budget.

He said should the budget deficit exceed seven per cent, this will have serious impact on the economy including the weakening of the local currency.

He said 70 per cent of the national budget goes to salaries, as a result the government took the decision not to increase salaries for public service employees rather than reducing the public service like in other countries.

For his part, Mr Goya said the nation’s needs have been growing over the years yet the country’s revenue has been declining.

He said this is a crucial time as a government to re-define the nation’s priority areas and come up with strategies to increase the revenue.

He said the council should come up with income generating projects to supplement the funds allocated to the council.

Furthermore he said those who sit in the regional immigration board should not reject investors’ applications without further consultation with the local authority or the respective area MP because the country is losing good investors.

He said some of the rejected investors contributed positively to the development of Palapye and the country’s economy.

On other issues, the three MPs commended the public service in Palapye Administration Authority for good performance.

They said the leadership forum has grown over the years and will be held every year in January so that the public service and the political wing are kept abreast about the developments in their respective area.

They said the public service, ministers and MPs should work together for a common goal of serving the nation.ENDS