26 Feb 2019

 Boteti residents are a happy community given the impact of the Poverty Eradication Programme on their lives.

This emerged recently at a sub-council meeting during the presentation of the development committee report by the district officer for development, Mr Goaletsa Keitumetse.

Mr Keitumetse said a charcoal and toilet paper manufacturing projects were both viable and operational in Boteti East and West.

He said the charcoal project in Boteti East had potential buyers from Australia and Kenya who were identified during the international exposition held in Gaborone recently.

Mr Keitumetse said the beneficiaries were trained by technicians from the Office of the President, and that some produce was sent to Botswana Bureau of Standards for testing.

He said the toilet paper machine, which produces 600-900 rolls a day, would be operated by 10 beneficiaries from Rakops though only four had shown interest.

Mr Keitumetse stated that three of them completed training with the Local Enterprise Authority.

Potential buyers, he said, had enquired on procuring toilet paper in large quantities, and that government departments had been encouraged to support the project.

The product, he said, had been branded and was of high quality, adding that it was marketed at Debswana and LUCARA diamond mines.

Furthermore, Mr Keitumetse said poverty eradication had 1 509 beneficiaries of which 1 432 were assessed and found eligible while 77 were from dikgosi initiatives and directives.

“A total of 1 078 have been funded, 922 operational and 131 were non-operational,” he said. 

The sub-district, he noted, was allocated P3.7 million for 2018/19 to implement the programme and that expenditure stood at 92.2 per cent. The current backlog, he said, stood at 431.

Councillor Matshwenyego Shaka suggested that all schools in Boteti should stop using firewood and support the charcoal project. Ends