19 Aug 2018

Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services has the responsibility of helping all Batswana have access to land, water and good health in line with the presidential roadmap, says the ministry’s permanent secretary Mr Thatayaone Dedede.

Mr Dedede, who was speaking during a consultative meeting with departments under his ministry in Francistown recently, pointed out that his ministry had to implement President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s roadmap as laid out when he was inaugurated on April 1.

He noted that the roadmap emphasised the importance of maintaining good records on human rights which included having decent accommodation and clean drinking water as well as having proper sanitation. 

“This behoves us to ensure that the human rights as alluded to by the President are implemented,” he said.

Part of the roadmap, he stated, also covered respect for the rule of law which meant delivering services to all people equally without any form of corruption.

The ministry, Mr Dedede said, also had a duty to eradicate poverty as it also formed a major part of the President’s roadmap.

Poverty eradication also meant intensifying government partnership with the private sector which could spur economic growth and relieve government of unnecessary burdens, he said.

As an example, the permanent secretary said his ministry should consider partnering with the private sector to build houses for employees to alleviate the problem of lack of accommodation.

On commercialising the agricultural sector, he called on the ministry’s employees to desist from frustrating Batswana who had good proposals to make a better living for themselves.

“We always encourage that priority of land allocation be given to Batswana before anybody else and we always request that you look at the benefits of proposals brought to you with an open mind before you can reject them under the notion that the policies in place are not flexible. Our concern is that many agricultural lands in Botswana are underutilised because we are looking more into regulation than viability,” he said. 

Mr Dedede  encouraged departments under his ministry to support young people by offering them opportunities and promoting youth businesses.

He called for the catalysing of ICT projects to help speed up the delivery of services.

He also urged departments to know, understand and align with the eleventh National Development Plan (NDP 11), National Transformative Strategy as well as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ENDS