12 Mar 2019

Councillors in Selebi Phikwe have approved the Urban Development Plan (UDP) Four mid-term review.

The review sought to carry out full assessment of the successes and failures realised in implementation of the Urban Development Plan Four from 2017/18 to 2018/19 financial years.

Councillors gave the mid-term review a green light during a special full council on March 8, adding that it still addressed the needs of the community. 

They indicated that successful implementation of strategies and projects outlined in the UDP  would go a long way in resuscitating the town’s depressed economy.

Councillors agreed that it was high time Selebi Phikwe leadership looked beyond BCL mine and explored other avenues to resuscitate the town’s economy.

However, they decried shortage of funds saying Selebi Phikwe Town Council budget should be increased to enable the council to implement proposed projects.

Councillors argued that Selebi Phikwe needed to be given priority over other townships.

They also raised concern over shortage of serviced land for allocation to investors.

Presenting the mid-term review, Selebi Phikwe Town Council official, Ms Kesego Siamisang said Selebi Phikwe had for a long time remained economically reliant on the mining sector specifically the BCL Mine.

She said the job losses  also affected other economic sectors which were reliant on the existence of the mine as such the town was currently faced with a major exodus and closure of business outlets which further compounded the unemployment problem.

For the remaining period of the plan, she said the district came up with strategies, projects and programmes that could arrest the issue of unemployment in town and hopefully yield new employment opportunities.

Amongst the challenges identified was shortage of serviced land for various land uses, of which the government made a special dispensation to have the land serviced for the industrial and urban agriculture activities.

The plan, she said would help place the town in a better place of promoting investment, development and possible economic growth opportunities.

She said Selebi Phikwe Economic Diversification Unit (SPEDU) would allocate plots to potential investors as a delegated function in order to expedite the process. She added that SPEDU had managed to allocate a few of the plots and allocation is still ongoing but at a small pace. Ends