21 Mar 2019

North West District Council chairman Mr Duncan Enga says some Village Development Committee (VDC)members divided proceeds from projects among themselves for personal use.
 

Officially opening a VDC consultative meeting organised by Maun Administration Authority (MAA) in the village recently, he said most employees engaged on community projects absconded.

 Mr Enga noted that corruption and lack of professionalism hampered developments in community projects monitored by VDCs.
 

He therefore urged members to follow procedures and laws guiding their role as well as to keep records of agreements and minutes of meetings.
 

VDC members, he said, were supervisors of community projects under various programmes and therefore should ensure projects were completed on time and within budget, since delays cost government.
 

Mr Duncan Enga emphasised that VDCs were crucial in the development of the village as a link between communities and the government.

He said 52 assistant community development officers were deployed in the North West District recently in an effort to improve service delivery..
 

VDCs, he said, worked closely with the officers in identifying people who required assistance at ward level and monitoring programmes such as Ipelegeng and constituency funds projects.

 In her remarks, principal community development officer Ms Mpho Bogatsu said VDCs faced challenges of outstanding rentals.

Ms Bogatsu said 42 VDCs in the MAA area were owed P450 724.47.

She said some VDCs totally failed in revenue collection while others lacked financial management and failed to bank revenue.
 

Ms Bogatsu therefore encouraged VDC representatives to adopt lease agreement signing with tenants.

She urged to ensure regular maintenance of rented houses to reduce complaints from defaulters.

The consultative meeting, she said was meant to equip VDCs with strategic plans knowledge which would help guide their development projects in their three-year tenure.

Ms Esther Khutsafalo from Somelo VDC complained about communication breakdown among government departments during project implementation.

Ms Khutsafalo also said some projects suggested by VDCs were overlooked when final decisions were taken.

Mr Othusitse Moderaeva of Nxaraga requested that VDC members be considered for  being paid salaries. Ends