04 Mar 2018

Ministry of Land Management and Sanitation Services, deputy permanent secretary, Mr Bareng Malatsi says there is need for Ngwato Land Board to manage their land for socio-economic development.

Mr Malatsi said this at the Ngwato Land Board prize giving eremony held at Lady Khama community hall recently.

“As land managers, we need to deal with an ever increasing appetite for more land manifesting itself in huge waiting list, persistent problem of illegal land occupiers and limited qualified staff to deal with these issues,” he said.

He noted that successful organisations do well in three areas of strategy, finance and people.

Mr Malatsi indicated that land administration was an emotional issue, as some people might want to maximise land ownership without managing it.

“While our ultimate principle should be to achieve our desired goal of socio-economic goal of this country and in particular, this district, I therefore challenge you to monitor the utilisation of the land you have allocated,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr Malatsi said only 450 000 of the 900 000 hectares of allocated arable land in Botswana was being cultivated.

As at 2011, he said there were 1 953 ranches, of which 904 were in Central District.

He stated that the performance, which they were celebrating should directly contribute to and be aligned with the comparative advantage of Central District, which included tourism and livestock development.

“That is the direction, which our government has set for us, looking at prevailing material conditions,” he said.

He also advised the staff not to lose sight of the challenges faced by the country such as persistent droughts and food insecurity, urbanising population, large youthful population, lack of jobs and volatile world commodity prices.

Mr Malatsi also noted that there was need for them to reflect and appreciate the performance and challenges that they had overcome as the land board.

“All these achievements are as a result of commitment by staff, land board members and stakeholders. Your achievements are as a result of team work and mutual respect. We therefore should not take achievement for granted,” he said.

He urged the staff to positively reinforce good performance and create a culture of continuous improvement.

He noted that as they strive to reward good performance, they should also manage underperformance as it could tarnish the image of the organisation.

In his remarks, Ngwato Land Board chairperson, Mr David Mosimanegape said they were experiencing delays in addressing land issues due to shortage of manpower.

“Our staff is working tireless without leave, but we are still behind in land allocation and other services provided by the land board,” he said.

He noted that some of the challenges could be addressed if people pay their lease rentals, adding that currently they were being owed more than P70 million.

Mr Modisagape pleaded with those in lease arrears to make payments as legal charges would be instituted. ENDS