26 Feb 2018

Jwaneng mayor Mr Obed Monkge has appealed to councillors and the township leadership to come up with strategies to address the environment crisis caused by mushrooming of churches around the township.

Addressing a full council meeting recently, Mr Monkge said the influx of churches without proper places of worship has created various environmental challenges which needed to be stopped before they got out of control.

“This has resulted in some of these congregations violating the land use regulations in place. The activities include, but not limited to, conducting church sermons in residential places including squatting on open spaces,” he said.
 

He said such illegal gatherings resulted in noise pollution and unacceptable hygiene standards due to lack of suitable facilities to cater for big gatherings.

“As the district leadership we have a profound responsibility to guard our plan against any form of contamination arising from improper form of land use. It is against this background that I implore the honourable House to come up with a proper strategy to address this environmental crisis before it spirals out of control,” he said.

On other issues, the mayor noted that  Jwaneng Town Council had engaged three waste management companies for P6million in an effort to realise its environmental sustainable development goals.

He said the companies were engaged to supplement the council’s environmental workforce and would  collect both garden and commercial waste from the mall area and residential units.

“This initiative is very helpful and has helped keep our town very clean as evidenced by us scooping position two under the town’s category at the National Keep the World Clean Day held in Francistown last year.

I therefore urge everyone to treat the environment as a valuable asset and protect it by ensuring that we keep it free from pollution,” he said. Ends