21 Mar 2018

Kgatleng District Council chairperson, Mr Mpho Morolong has assured the public that most of the council projects are underway while some have not yet started.

Speaking at the opening of the full council session on Monday in Mochudi, Mr Morolong said projects worth over P34 million under the ESP Phase II for the financial year had commenced and were at various stages of construction.

He said the projects included construction of staff houses, pupils’ toilets and classrooms at Ramotlabaki, Leshibitse, Artesia and Seingwaeng primary schools.

Mr Morolong who is also councillor for Boseja Central said some of the projects were behind schedule emanating from delays encountered during rock excavations and problems encountered when Lobatse Clay Works’ plant was on shut down.

He said the council was engaging with the contractors to make up for lost time.

He said projects for ESP III had been approved for construction of education facilities to the tune of P12.7 million at Modipane, Oliphant’s Drift, Lady Matchison, Kgafela and Rasesa Primary Schools.

Mr Morolong said that the design and tender documentation were at vetting stage.

Furthermore Mr Morolong said there were 44 projects currently being implemented under the constituency funding, of which 28 were roads related projects mainly paving and storm water drainage while 16 were buildings projects.

He said of the 28 road projects, 22 were on-going while six storm water drainage projects had not yet started.

Mr Morolong stated that of the 16 building projects,11 were ongoing while five projects mainly maintenance of community halls and VDC residential houses had not yet started.

He said the programme was experiencing challenges including delay in supply of materials, lack of skilled labour and limited resources.

Mr Morolong said in addition to the P3.6 million that was disbursed on poverty eradication projects, another P1 million was disbursed to clear off the backlog and a total of P4.1 million had been spent.

Moreover Mr Morolong said out of the 1 461 qualified beneficiaries, 1 064 had been funded and 32 had been partially funded.

He said of the 1 064 funded projects, 778 were operational while the remaining 22 had collapsed.

Furthermore, Mr Morolong said the Land Administration in Botswana the Land Administration, Procedures Capacity and Systems (LAPCAS) project was advancing to the next phase.

He said Kgatleng Land Board had started the next phase of fixing durable plot numbers to surveyed plots across the district.

Furthermore, Mr Morolong said the project had been started in 16 out of 21 villages that constituted the Kgatleng District.

He said the project was continuing amid challenges which among others included inadequate resources and inappropriate demarcation of plots by owners.

Mr Morolong said by end of February 2018 about 10 273 plots were completed out of a target of 31 794 surveyed plots.

He urged the public to cooperate with the land board by at least fencing their plots in order to facilitate the project and to also encourage those lagging behind in claiming their plots at the land board to secure their land rights. ENDS