24 Feb 2019

Palapye Administration Authority councillors have refused to adopt the District Development Plan (DDP) 8 complaining that some pending projects had been left out.

The councillors requested that DDP8 be further reviewed and amended before they could adopt it.

They complained that projects such as Lerala Primary Hospital and Radisele Clinic with a maternity wing were not included in the plan, yet previously the council had adopted a motion for establishing the facilities.

Failure to capture the projects in the plan as agreed, they argued, might delay the process of getting them funded, citing the Palapye primary hospital project which despite having been long approved, had not been implemented.

The councillors also expressed concern that the allocation of residential plots in the area was taking place at a snail’s pace.

They called for storm water drainage systems to form part of roads construction projects.

Another concern was the delay in the establishment of a regional landfill though funds for the project had been availed.

They noted that the Mmalenakana dumping site was overwhelmed by the business boom Palapye was experiencing and could end up posing a health hazzard to communities.

They said Palapye Development Plan was long overdue, overtaken by events and needed to be revisited.

Earlier presenting DDP8, principal economic officer Mr Kesetsenao Tshitlho said its review was done simultaneously with that of NDP 11 with a view to developing and improving the livelihood of Central District communities.

He said it had been realised that in most cases projects were either not completed or not implemented due to financial constraints.

Mr Tshitlho said the current plan covered a six-year period from 2017/18 to 2022/23) and was anchored on strategic planning principles that guided and informed all planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation processes.

Mr Tshitlho said the plan was meant to reflect on the milestones achieved in relation to approved projects and programmes as well as to re-prioritise projects as per the district’s emerging needs.

He said various aspects of the plan focused on the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and key tenets of Botswana’s Vision 2036, which outlines the country’s aspirations.

For his part, deputy district commissioner Mr Odiseng Moruti said the area needed to have one service point, saying residents faced challenges as they often had to travel to neighbouring sub-districts to obtain sevices.Ends