04 Dec 2018

Many Batswana are in dire need of land to pursue agricultural activities for business purposes or for residential use, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse has said.

Speaking in Parliament while contributing to State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), the Serowe North East representative said access to land was a major challenge in the country, which was an impediment for many people.

“People take many years before they are allocated land. A 20-year-old may apply for a plot but may only receive a piece of land by the age of 50 when they are no longer considered creditworthy by commercial banks, and would then struggle to develop it.  We need to look at means of ensuring that our people have better access to land ownership,” Mr Autlwetse said.

Another thorny issue he felt needed immediate attention was water access, stating that the situation in his constituency was particularly dire.

“In the different areas that constitute the Serowe North East constituency, from Serule to Serowe, there is a serious problem with a lack of access to water.  But in villages such as Gojwane, Topisi, Moreomabele, Paje and Mabeleapodi there is strong potential for boreholes to be rehabilitated.  There is the upcoming project of accessing water from Letsibogo Dam, but in the meantime we need to access underground water to alleviate the current situation,” Mr Autlwetse said.

Meanwhile Molepolole South legislator, Dr Tlamelo Mmatli said despite being one of the country’s most populated areas, the biggest village and the third most populated settlement after Gaborone and Francistown, Molepolole remained underdeveloped.

He said the Kweneng District capital lacked a sewerage system, internal roads, and the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) had not developed houses in the village despite such developments having taken place elsewhere in the country.

Dr Mmatli also called for a new police station and district commissioner’s office to be constructed in Molepolole, saying their current facilities were crowded.  

He further called on the government to construct houses for the poor for rental at low prices. ENDS