17 Oct 2017

A bigger hospital planned for Chobe District is underway as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been issued, says Chobe Member of Parliament, Mr Machana Shamukuni.

Mr Shamukuni, who was addressing kgotla meetings in Pandamatenga, Kazungula and Plateau respectively, said the 120 bed hospital would help the situation as the current hospital has about 30 beds.

He was responding to some residents in those areas who complained about the hospital situation in Chobe.

Addressing concerns regarding electricity, Mr Shamukuni updated his constituents that the project aimed to connect the Chobe District to the national grid was ongoing.

He said the plan was to construct a substation in Pandamatenga to connect Chobe to the whole country, adding that the connection would come from Phokoje in Mmadinare.

Mr Shamukuni noted that some parts of Chobe were supplied with power from Namibia while some were connected to Zimbabwe.

He, however, noted that power supplied from the neighbouring countries had some challenges as power cuts sometimes went for a long time with faults originating from the host country.

Meanwhile, some residents of Kazungula complained about the shortage of water in their area.

For his part, Kgosi Morgan Makhanga of Kazungula said the prolonged water shortage was a concern as water was a necessity.

Kgosi Makhanga also complained about the poor condition of internal roads. In response, Mr Shamukuni appreciated that the challenges of water and internal roads were not a new thing.

Mr Shamukuni, however, said the internal roads project was awarded to a local contractor through the minimal land servicing project worth about P80 million which was responsible for provision of water and internal roads maintenance in various parts of Chobe.

The MP, however, noted that the contractor was behind schedule and that the council was handling the situation. ENDS