27 May 2019

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse has urged the Tutume and Boteti Sub-district councils to speed up constituency community projects for the two constituencies under their jurisdiction in order to stimulate the local economy.

This, he said was a serious concern because government worked according to plan and the expectation was that projects should be done as per schedule so that others could take off as well.

Mr Autlwetse was addressing technical officers and engineers based at Tutume and Boteti constituencies at Letlhakane on Friday.

He raised a concern that most of the constituency projects for 2017/18 in both areas were lagging behind even though funds were released on time. Mr Autlwetse expressed disappointment that most of the constituency projects for 2017/18 were still graded at low percentage while others had not yet been started.

He therefore appealed with local contractors and engineers to pull up their socks and work as per the time frame agreed upon.

The assistant minister said in the Central District, the two sub-districts were performing badly in carrying out constituency projects.

Mr Autlwetse indicated that the P10 million constituency fund was  issued to carry out minor jobs, where the locals could be involved, adding that through such, government intended to create employment for Batswana and their local contractors.

He noted that having projects finishing on time gave those tasked to monitor them ample time to focus on new ones as per the schedule, instead of having to move back and forth making follow-ups on those that were left behind.

Mr Autlwetse said that the implementation of the projects would stimulate the economy of the sub-districts and create employment in the affected areas.

Mr Autlwetse appealed to the sub-district leadership to monitor the projects, noting that although it was going to be an increased workload for staff, the leadership should also partner with them to ensure that the projects were completed on time and within budget.

He said public participation was one of their foundations as a sub-district and that they were duty bound to involve members of the community in all developments they undertake.

The assistant minister added that they should involve communities in order to ensure that they take part in the decision-making process and owning up to the developments and services that they delivered.

He highlighted that houses to be constructed would address the burning issue of shortage of staff houses in the area.

Further, Mr Autlwetse said having companies finishing work on time gave the government and the beneficiaries confidence that such a company could be engaged on other works if need arose.

He said they should continue with preparations for the implementation of the projects so that they could ‘hit the ground running’ upon the availability of funds.

Boteti Sub-district chairperson Mr Molemi Galeragwe thanked the government for introducing constituency funding, which he said would create employment for Batswana equally and speed up developments in rural areas.

He said the constituency fund had assisted in maintaining roads and schools in villages, constructed kgotla shelters as well as built houses for disadvantaged people.

Mr Galeragwe further stated that the Central District was vast, requesting the government to increase its yearly budget. He also decried shortage of quantity surveyors. He queried that relevant authorities took long to replace transferred qualified engineers.

Planners and engineers who attended decried shortage of transport to carry out their job diligently.

They said some local contractors abandoned sites after collecting mobilisation money. 

They said conflicts between councillors, VDCs and members of the communities sometimes delayed the progression of projects. ends