07 Sep 2017

Member of Parliament for Tati West, Mr Biggie Butale has encouraged  Kgari, Masukwane and Pole residents  to take advantage of Tshesebe-Masunga road project.

Addressing kgotla meetings in the three villages recently, Mr Butale, also investment, trade and industry assistant minister, said the project had cost P500 million with access roads to Masukwane, Pole and Mulambakwena

He stated that the road would bridge the telecommunications gap between the village and also improve business within the district because it would be an alternative route to Francistown.

He added that such a massive project would offer employment opportunities for residents within the road network.

On other issues, Mr Butale told residents that government had released constituency funds to their respective district offices to be disbursed accordingly among villages.

Thus, he implored them to use funds responsibly for the benefit of their villages through projects that would generate income in future.

Also, Mr Butale updated them on some laws which were passed in the July/August Parliament sitting which inlcuded the National Registration and the Tribal Land Acts.

He stated that amendment to the National Registration Act gave the national registration office to investigate cases where parents delayed to apply for Omang for their children.

He indicated that in the past, parents who delayed to apply for Omang for their children were penalised, which resulted in some parents deciding not to register for Omang.

However, he told parents that the amendment did not mean that parents should drag their feet in  registering their children for Omang as a result of the nullified penalty.

He further said the legislation also provided that family members of a deceased person should return their Omang cards to avoid issues of fraud.

Further, he told residents that the Tribal Land Amendment Bill was also passed which allowed land boards to issues title deeds for tribal land.

He highlighted that old land ownership certificates would be converted to title deeds through land boards in different districts.

Meanwhile, Kgari, Masukwane and Pole residents lauded government for construction of the Tshesebe-Masunga road which they said would bring opportunities in their villages.

Nevertheless, they complained about the crime rate in their villages which they said was high, especially school break-ins where computers had been stolen.

They further stated that the water crisis in North East was alarming as they went for weeks without water.

Again, they expressed concern about poverty eradication initiative roll-out which they said was slow in their villages given that they had long applied but had not yet received assistance.

Responding to their questions, Mr Butale stated that government had requested P1 billion from the World Bank to purchase new pipes that would carry water from Ntimbale dam and replace worn-out ones that cause water spillage.

He also told villagers that he would take up the crime rate issue with the relevant department and facilitate deployment of more police officers as per their request.

He indicated that many Batswana had applied for the poverty eradication projects hence the backlog. ENDS