13 Sep 2018

Member of Parliament for Jwaneng/Mabutsane Mr Shawn Ntlhaile has called on public officers in the Mabutsane sub-district to work hard towards providing services to the communities they serve.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Kokong on September 11, Mr Ntlhaile said as implementers, public officers were responsible for ensuring that members of the public had access to government programmes.

“Public officers have to ensure that people have access to government programmes for them to be effective,” he said.

He said even though he acknowledged that there were challenges such as financial constraints, some tasks did not require funds but rather monitoring and giving feedback to residents.   

Mr Nthaile underscored the need for public officers and politicians to work together to bring services to the communities. “We should work together for a common goal of serving the public,” he said.

He emphasised the need for consultation between officers and members of the community on projects undertaken for their area. He said Kokong was allocated the sum of P333 000 from the P10 million constituency funds, which was to be channelled towards priority projects in their village.

He said it was the responsibility of residents to come up with such projects, with public officers providing technical advice.

Furthermore, Mr Ntlhaile called on Kokong residents to utilise government programmes especially those intended to eradicate poverty, noting that such programmes would uplift their lives and enhance the economy of their villages.

He said he was aware that funds for programmes such as the Youth Development Fund (YDF) were not enough for all applicants, but nonetheless encouraged them to try their luck.

On other issues, the MP assured residents that he will propose for the review of the National Development Plan (NDP) to include tarring of Kokong road from the Trans-Kalahari highway.

He said even before such a request could be acceded to, local residents should be engaged when gravelling the road.

“Locals should be hired during the construction of this road,” he said.

Kgosi Kemolatoletswe Moalafi had earlier decried the bad state of the road leading to the village, which he said affected developments in the village.

He said the poor terrain was the reason why government employees did not want to be transferred to Kokong.

He also attributed lack of public transport to the poor road.

Kgosi Moalafi also said they were never consulted on the projects undertaken through the constituency funds in their village.

He requested that next time they be engaged so that they can have an input as they are the ones who know their priorities.

The Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson Mr Bontshaletse Batshomi said there was need for the construction of an extra classroom at Kokong primary school to cater for reception class children, adding that currently there was shortage of space and this compromised their learning. ENDS