03 Feb 2019

Member of Parliament for Lerala/ Maunatlala, Mr Prince Maele, has assured residents of Maunatlala, Mokokwana, Mosweu and Seolwane that he will invite the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security to shed light on closure of their irrigation farm.

Mr Maele’s response followed residents’ complaints during kgotla meetings he addressed recently.

“I do not have full information that I can share with you regarding the irrigation farm. The best way is to call the relevant minister to talk about it,” he said.

The MP said he had learnt that there was a court case about ownership of the farm but said such information was not enough for the residents.

Residents complained that the irrigation farm had been closed without an explanation.

They also told their MP that they were hopeful the farm would provide some source of employment, especially that some were already working there.

The irrigation farm, located just on the outskirts of Maunatlala, was expected to yield high value horticultural and citrus production to supply the domestic market once in full swing.

The farm reportedly operated for few months and closed indefinitely.

One of the speakers, Mr Mmoloki Mosiiwa, of Mokokwana said they were surprised to find that the farm had been closed while the owner was nowhere to be found.

Mr Ramosenki Tlhako, a resident of Maunatlala said what bothered them was that hectares of land were taken from them for the project but nothing satisfactory was coming out of it.

He also told Mr Maele that he was one of those employed at the irrigation farm but he had not been paid his dues pleading with the MP to intervene.

Background information is that when the farm started, farmers in that area were compensated after at least 450 hectares of land were taken from them for the project.

The private investor was allocated 250 hectares, 100 hectares of the fertile land was reserved for the small entrepreneurs while the remaining 100 hectares were going to take care of ancillary works such as processing plants and service centres.
Water for the project was drawn from the Lotsane Dam. ENDS