10 Jun 2019

Department of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development is calling for adherence to Youth Development Fund (YDF) loan repayment to enable funding for other beneficiaries.

Presenting Kweneng District Development Committee report during Kweneng District Council meeting, principal district development officer Mr Kabelo Ntopo raised a concern over non-adherence by some beneficiaries despite consistent reminders.

He said an unsatisfactorily collection of around P403 000 had been made by the Kweneng District office against the target of P561 403

He said despite efforts by the ministry to encourage youth who benefited from government tenders to commit themselves to repaying the loans, resistance continue to prevail.

Mr Ntopo outlined factors affecting YDF loan repayments as; lack of skills to penetrate the market, lack of commitment, high mobility of the youth and lack of technological means, among others.

The department, he said, had since strengthened monitoring processes, through a monthly flea market in collaboration with LEA to expose youth products to consumers while trainings on entrepreneurial skills were constantly being conducted.

On other issues, he reported delayed implementation of the Kumakwane Development Plan emanating from the problems in acquisition of fields from owners, which impacted on efforts to facilitate planning.

The problem as Mr Ntopo stated, significantly impacted on plot allocation that was last made in 2006, resulting in Kumakwane waiting list standing at 15 729. The land board, he said, has made numerous efforts to consult field owners from 2012 to acquire fields, but was challenged by resistance by owners not willing to release fields.

In relations to the district’s infrastructural development projects, Mr Ntopo told the council that the district, through Project Management Unit, had initiated a scooping report that intend to combine Molepolole major projects such as sanitation, water reticulation, land servicing and internal roads, to ease implementation processes.

On other issues, DDC report made a briefing on registration of 692 diarrhea outbreak in the district with Letlhake Sub- district reporting the highest number of cases. Investigations, he said, were immediately conducted with no deaths reported. Other cases were on Malaria and Rabies with 42 and 10 cases respectively.

On women empowerment projects, Department of Gender Affairs report revealed that 17 projects out of 34 were doing well, four operational and promising while the other four were said to be on the verge of collapse and the remaining five were said to have collapsed due to issues of group dynamics. ENDS