14 Jan 2019

Government will construct a bridge that connects Mandunyane and Semotswane villages when funds are available.

Tonota legislator, Mr Thapelo Olopeng, said this when addressing kgotla meetings in the two villages recently.

He explained that their plea for a new bridge was a noble request which government could consider when funds become available.

He explained that the economy was not doing well and that government would have to prudently use the available financial resources by prioritising developments.

Residents of the two villages complained that the current footbridge at Tholodi River was not safe for people to cross to the other side of the village.

Mr Olopeng, who is also the Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, also briefed the residents on construction of a tarred road from the AI branching at Shashe Bridge-Semotswane, Mandunyane and Mathangwane village in the Shashe West Constituency.

He explained that the tendering processes of the multi-million Pula road project would be done mid this year and appealed to residents to rest assured about the projects that he said was on the pipeline.In addition, Mr Olopeng said part of the P10 million constituency funds would be used to construct a multipurpose cooperative society in Tonota constituency to fight youth unemployment.

He explained that the leadership of the constituency agreed to set aside P1 million for the envisaged project.

Mr Olopeng also briefed residents on bills that were passed during the last state of the nation address session.

They included the stock theft amendment bill which sought to increase the penalties of stock theft from five to 15 years for first offenders, the bill that commercialises Botswana Building Society (BBS) and the Medicines and related substances bill, amongst others.

For their part, residents decried lack of developments in their areas as well as the increasing cases of stock theft, high water bills, shortage of nurses in their local clinics as well as lack of tribal land. ENDS