01 May 2019

Member of Parliament for Shoshong, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele, has appealed to Kalamare residents to make use of development opportunities presented to them to improve their lives. 

Addressing a kgotla meeting at the village recently Mr Makgalemele said government had availed opportunities for Batswana to utilise to better their lives but the uptake of such opportunities was low especially among the youth. 

He cited India business scholarships which he said the youth were reluctant to utilise.  

The MP said the youth should not reduce themselves to cry babies during kgotla meetings when there were projects which they could undertake. He refuted allegations that there was favouritism as to who was eligible for some programmes.

Another programme which Mr Makgalemele appealed to Kalamare residents to utilise was cluster fencing to improve agriculture, noting that some Batswana’s lives in other parts of country had improved because they had utilised government opportunities. 

Regarding the P100 000 spice project, Mr Makgalemele registered his concern about the delay saying the issue of drilling of the borehole was not an excuse since the project could be started on a smaller scale before drilling of the borehole. 

Mr Makgalemela said the intention of the project was to create employment opportunities for Kalamare residents hence the need to hasten its operation.

In his report, Village Development Committee (VDC) chairman Mr Mogorosi Ntotang complained about delay of some of the council projects and long tendering procedures.

Mr Ntotang cited the junior school hostel building project,  public toilets and other ESP projects.

The chairperson however commended government for completed ESP projects saying they created employment for some of the Kalamare residents, noting that 17 residents had been employed through ESP.

Responding to the concern about delay of projects, Principal physical planner Mr Benjamin Bogopa said there several factors caused  delay of projects such as bickering after awarding of tenders.

Mr Bogopa said shortage of staff was another hindrance to delivering of projects on time. He however appreciated that the government was considering augmentation of the work force, saying “we are expecting clerk of works employees who will be specifically dealing with this projects.”

He also mentioned shortage of transport at the council  but was also hopeful the  problem would be addressed. For his part Kgosi Goareng  Mosinyi appealed  to Kalamare cattle farmers to take care of their livestock which he said destroyed the cluster fence. ENDS