26 Apr 2019

 Member of Parliament for Boteti East, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe has expressed concern that mines have put pressure on developments in Letlhakane.
Mr Lelatisitswe said this during a Orapa Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines business update with the general manager Mr Bakani Motlhabani in Orapa recently.
He stated that such infrastructure as roads had high traffic flow, with buses from Debswana mines transporting employees day and night. He wondered if management of the mines could not intervene to address traffic congestion in the village. 
Roads in Letlhakane, he said, were worn out, noting that there were no basic facilities such as bus bays, emphasising that Debswana, as a corporate citizen, should be able to identify such inadequacies and address them.
Mr Lelatisitswe indicated that Debswana employees resided in Letlhakane and staff buses could not go to new sites, where the employees resided due to poor  road network. 
The legislator further complained about acute shortage of water in Letlhakane, saying it was disheartening to see employees going to work without having taken a proper bath. 
He reiterated that such a company as Debswana should be able to install a reservoir for the community. 
He further expressed a concern that there was poor communication between the mine and the community. 
Partnership between Debswana and government, he said, had been in existence for a long time, but information sharing remained a challenge. 
Physical planners working for government, he said, should be able to get information from Debswana, adding that a village like Letlhakane should not be operating with a dumpsite, but a landfill. 
Corporate Social Investment budget, he said, was too low, noting that Debswana should have a budget focused on addressing communities’ grievances like water shortage. 
Mr Lelatisitswe complained that the OLDM liaison officer was failing to give information on Orapa Today, Boteti Tomorrow projects. 
He implored them to have an open policy with communities within which the mines operate. 
Expansion of the park, he said, should be open to the public running hospitality business in Letlhakane. 
For his part, Mr Motlhabani stated that OLDM was prepared to upgrade water reticulation infrastructure in Letlhakane.
He indicated that severe water shortages had plagued Letlhakane recently and OLDM collaborated with Water Utilities Corporation management to supply the village with water. 
Provision, he said, had been made to connect OLDM WF 6 line to the village reticulation network. 
Demand for assistance, he said, had grown such that the line was currently kept open to feed the village since December 2018 to February this year.
 Mr  Motlhabani further stated that OLDM Exco had reduced the number of expatriates, noting that they had one expatriate who had since been replaced. OLDM business partners have 3 626 employees with 2 721 female citizens, 856 male citizens and 49 male expatriates. 
Mr Motlhabani indicated that there were services that the mine was providing in the sub-district such as health services, noting that their commitment to the community was access to health care. 
Members of the community, he said, sought medical assistance from Orapa mine hospital due to lack of medication and drugs in government facilities. Letlhakane Primary Hospital, he said, was congested and there was a spillover that sought assistance from Orapa.
OLDM, he said had, decided to build a maternity wing for Letlhakane Primary Hospital, which would cost P5 million. 
He said 2 235 patients from the sub-district were admitted in Orapa in 2018. 
Mr Motlhabani said the Corporate Social Investment (CSI) budget was P3.7 million. ENDS