17 Jan 2019

Palapye Administration Authority (PAA) recently held a consultative meeting with the Village Development Committees (VDCs) on the midterm review of the National Development Plan 11 (NDP 11) and District Development Plan 8 (DDP 8).

The meeting held in Palapye under the theme: Inclusive growth for the realization of sustainable employment creation and poverty eradication, aimed at reviewing progress made with regards to DDP 8 and NDP 11 projects planned for Palapye and surrounding areas.

“The idea is to assess performance, identify challenges in the first half period of implementing the plan and to make necessary economic, policy and strategic adjustment for the remaining period of the plan,” said the PAA senior council secretary Mr Lucky Maoto.

He explained that the current development plan was different from the previous ones as the government had since changed the plan’s approach from sector base to the thematic working group approach due to duplication of projects.

As a result, Mr Maoto said, government could suspend some projects and divert the money budgeted for such projects to address emergencies.

For his part, the economic planner Mr Kesentsenao Tshitlo pointed out that Botswana’s approach to planning was based on the bottom-up approach.

He noted that the bottom-up approach realised the importance of communities as partners in  development and their input in the planning process.

Mr Maoto explained that projects for the Palapye region in NDP 11 and DDP 8 include the refurbishment of Morupule A Power Plant, a water pipeline from Palapye to Mmamashia and servicing of Extension 11 location.

The projects that are still to be implemented include construction of DPP offices, servicing Extension 10 and renovation of Palapye Primary Hospital among others.

Meanwhile, the chairperson of Lecheng VDC Mr Lesego Gabaikitse said the VDC was experiencing setbacks with regard to revenue collection from VDC rentals due to the fact that civil servants failed to pay rent.  

He said some civil servants ended up transfering to other places without settling their rent balances.

Mr Gabaikitse noted that when he took over as VDC chairperson of Lecheng, funds owed to the VDC by civil servants had accumulated to more than P20 000.

He suggested that monies be deducted from defaulters’  salaries to settle the debts. ENDS