05 Mar 2019

Ngwato Land Board employees have been urged to support the new administration’s roadmap.

They were also called upon to revisit some of the rigid policies and land use regulations that hindered smooth service delivery. 

Land board chairperson, Mr David Modisagape made the remarks during the 2019/20 five-day strategic retreat held in Maun under the theme: Revitalising people-led service excellence.

He noted that the new administration has stressed that policies and regulations should be relaxed to facilitate service delivery and for employees to serve communities diligently.

Mr Modisagape preached team work among all employees and board members, noting that together they could get rid of stumbling blocks to effective and efficient service delivery.

He said they should ask themselves how they could service the over 3 000 plots in Palapye that needed to be serviced considering the costs attached.

He said if the board failed, it meant the management had failed the nation as the board made decisions and formulated policies based on advice from management. He noted that they were not showing accountability as they kept receiving applications for borehole allocations yet there were no boreholes. 

The chairperson also noted that the land board had stated that it would allocate plots within three months, but that it had failed to do so as some applicants had waited for two years.

Mr Modisagape also noted that allocation of fields had stopped in 2015, but that they still received applications which they put on the waiting list. 

He wondered if that would work for the institution. He called on management to facilitate and share information with the board chairpersons to avoid court cases.

He reminded employees that the nation had entrusted the land board with management of land, and that they should work towards excellent service delivery.

“We are holding land in trust for the nation, and it is advisable to always give them feedback because they need to know how their land is managed,” he added,

Mr Modisagape also stated that as the largest land board in the country, Ngwato Land Board employees needed to lead by example as the public was eyeing them.

He said they should not inform the public about policies only, but should also engage them on land management issues.

Board secretary, Mr Molebedi Khuduego said the retreat came at the right time as it coincided with a number of developments such as the new administration, national elections, implementation of the new Land Information System, (LIS) and that expectations were high.

He said it was important for the land board as an organ of the Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services to adopt the latter’s strategic plan which runs from 2017 to 2023.

He noted that it was aligned to a number of important milestones such as Vision 2036, NDP 11 as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr Khuduego urged employees to adhere to set service standards in order to protect the organisation’s reputation and to deliver to the public expectations.

Outlining the objectives of the retreat, the district performance improvement coordinator (DPIC), Ms Violet Jacobs explained that they were gathered to introspect and re-plan, identify their successes and failures.

At the end of the retreat, she said the gathering should come up with interventions considering the government agenda. ENDS