14 May 2018

Jwaneng town clerk, Mr Dick Kalantle has applauded Jwaneng mine for being a big partner in the development of the district and for its continuous contribution to the improvement of people’s lives.

He was speaking during a meeting between Jwaneng leadership and those from the Boteti Sub-district, whose intension was to forge collaboration between the two parties to strategise on sustainable economic diversification initiatives.

The meeting was also part of a benchmarking exercise on the contribution of the mines towards the communities within which they operate.

Mr Kalantle noted that despite the financial challenges that hinder development in the district, Jwaneng Mine continues to render support in the socio-economic development of Jwaneng and surrounding villages.

“The history of Jwaneng is as old as Debswana Jwaneng Mine and throughout the past, the contribution of the mine towards socio-economic development is evident, especially in critical areas such as housing, education, health, youth development and citizen economic development.

While development is never enough because economies are dynamic, there has been continuous effort by the mine to respond to the challenges that are prevalent, given the resources at hand,” he said.

He underscored the need for communities that exist near mining areas to join efforts to augment the mines’ efforts.

He said the collaboration between the two districts was appropriate because they had similar challenges and therefore would have the same level of commitment to ensure sustainable livelihoods post the mining era.

He said since they were aware that diamonds were not forever as was the initial perception, time has come for the mining communities to combine efforts and tackle challenges head-on. He said Jwaneng

Mine had been a strategic partner in helping address challenges that were common in mining areas such as HIV/AIDS, and squatting, among others.

“The mine hospital is a solid partner with our District Health Management Team, also serving as our referral hospital for our clinics as we do not have a primary hospital.  This has assisted us to improve our response to critical challenges such as HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases,” he said.

The town clerk further noted that Jwaneng mine continued to provide accommodation for its employees to augment efforts by the government and the Botswana Housing Corporation.

He said such had helped cushion the employees from the exorbitant rentals prevalent among mining communities.

Further, Mr Kalantle acknowledged the contribution of the mine towards the upgrading of the sewerage network, which could not otherwise handle the growing population in the township.

He said even though the current priorities were centered around providing potable water, the mine had managed to assist Water Utilities Corporation with resources to contain the challenge of sewerage as a short-term measure, while still planning on harvesting and re-using waste water in the long run.

For his part, Boteti Sub-district council chairperson, Mr Molemi Galeragwe said like their Jwaneng counterparts, they had forged a partnership with Orapa, Letlhakane, Damtshaa Mines (OLDM) on various economic activities aimed at sustaining the communities past the mine lifespan.

He said one of the key projects was the Orapa Today, Boteti Tomorrow initiative, whose purpose is to work towards the diversification of the economy through resuscitating various sectors such as tourism and education, among others.

He noted that they had since made progress with some projects such as the game park, which was almost finished and the museum, which was recently opened.

However, he noted that even though they appreciated the efforts by OLDM, they were still not satisfied with Debswana’s zone of influence, which gave priority to communities closer to the mines and disadvantaged others within the district.

He also noted that migration to mining areas also caused a strain on the resources in the sub-district and resulted in illegal squatting. Ends