20 Feb 2017

 Assistant Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Itumeleng Moipisi says as of now, his ministry will not consider prohibiting allocation of unserviced land.

Answering a question in Parliament on Thursday, from the MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, the assistant minister however said, as stated in the Botswana Land Policy, the intention was that all land be serviced prior to allocation, funds permitting.

He said his ministry has re-introduced an accelerated land servicing programme, intended to provide the requisite infrastructure in unserviced areas and also reduce the waiting period for land allocation.

MP Keorapetse had asked the minister if he would consider prohibiting allocation of unserviced land and accelerating land servicing and consequently, reducing the waiting period for land allocation.

Still in Parliament, answering another question from MP for Nata-Gweta, Mr Polson Majaga, the assistant minister said he was aware that Mosetse Dam had not been included in NDP 11, noting that he was not aware of any promise that the dam would be included in the plan.

He further said, although Mosetse Dam was initially included in NDP 9 and NDP 10, he could not state with any degree of certainty as to when it would be prioritised for construction.

Mr Moipisi said the ministry was still applying due diligence as to how best to meet water demands of Mosetse cluster on the basis of available sources of water and financial resources.

 “My ministry is still assessing these options. Upon conclusion of these we will determine the way forward,” he said.

MP Majaga had asked the minister if he was aware that Mosetse Dam had not been included in NDP 11 as promised.

He also wanted to know when this dam would be constructed given that it was the only one left from NDP 9 and 10.

Furthermore, he wanted to know what had caused the delay in this project. BOPA