29 Jul 2013

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Peter Siele says Xhaoga settlement in the Okavango Sub-district is to become a village.

Mr Siele said this during President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s visit to the settlement. He said the 2011 population census showed that Xhaoga had 767 people, which qualified it to be a village.

Minister Siele said that the North West District Council (NWDC) had done the necessary procedures to finalise it to be a village and this would open doors for more opportunities. The minister was responding to some of the issues raised by the Village Development Committee (VDC). Minister Siele also said government would consider that more people were engaged in the Ipelegeng programme.

The VDC representative, Mr Basimilwe Bojosi said some of the challenges they faced emanated from lack of health facilities and pupils travelling long distances to school as far as Shakawe and other neighbouring villages. He also said they had many disabled people and once Xhaoga attained the status of a village, it would help them access government programmes in their own backyard.

When giving a vote of thanks, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Okavango, Mr Bagalatia Arone said the sub-district faced many challenges and therefore people needed to think outside the box in order to solve some of them.

He also asked the government to consider constructing a road which connects Xhaoga and other villages as he said it was one of the biggest challenges in the area.

The MP on another point thanked the President and his team for the visit to Okavango, adding that they showed compassion towards their people and encouraged other government officials to follow suit. ENDS