20 Jun 2017

Member of Parliament for Tonota, Mr Thapelo Olopeng has urged residents of Mhakamme ward in his constituency to make use of the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development(LIMID) programme to sell their small stock as prices had been raised.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting on Monday, he urged them to sell small stock old enough to benefit beneficiaries.

“The livestock being sold should be in a healthy condition and ready to reproduce. It is not fair to sell livestock which is young and will take time to reproduce, as it is bought for purpose of helping those in need,” he added.

On other issues, the Village Development Committee chairperson, Ms Sapelo Mphane pleaded with the authorities to build culverts in their area.

She said the stream in the area made it hard for children to go to school during the rainy season, hence disturbing their classes.

One of the village elders, Kgosi Kalolo Mokgoro said he was not happy that the veterinary cordon fence was making their lives difficult as they could not sell their cattle even though Foot and Mouth Disease was never detected in their area.

Commenting on the outcry from Kgosi Mokgoro, Department of Veterinary Services principal technical officer, Mr Chendzimo Keetile pleaded with the community to be patient as the disease took time to clear.

He said the fence was ereceted to stop the disease from spreading to other places and to control cattle movement. In addition, village elder, Mr Moses Seepe raised concern that there was shortage of water in the area because the connection fee was too high and that the payment conditions were not favourable to them.

He pleaded with the water department to revisit the connection conditions so that they could  benefit from water while paying for the connection fees. BOPA