05 Dec 2019

Member of Parliament for Nkange, Dr Never Tshabang has vowed to transform Nkange constituency to become the centre of economic activities.

In his contribution to the State-of-the-Nation Address,  Dr Tshabang said Nkange constituency had economically regressed for the past years. 

He applauded his constituents for finding it fit to vote in the opposition legislator who was committed to uplifting their livelihoods.

 Dr Tshabang said his constituency had in the past been besieged by poverty due to lack of quality representation at parliament level.

 He said his constituency hardships included, but were not limited to poor education results, poor road network, lack of proper health care services and high unemployment rates.

Dr Tshabang said the constituency was currently being served by one dilapidated primary hospital in Tutume which was constructed in 1986. 

 He said the primary hospital was not patient-friendly as it had a 28-bed capacity which was overcrowded as it accommodated all genders and age groups in one room. 

He said the hospital was also understaffed with a shortage of medication. 

 He stated that his constituency had long been promised a new 70-bed hospital. 

He said it was disappointing that President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi in his address only revealed that Tutume Primary Hospital would only be upgraded.

 He said government should take the welfare of the constituents with the same vigour and vitality it did during the political camping trail.

With regard to human-wildlife conflict, Dr Tshabang said his area was prone to human-wildlife conflict despite the area not been officially declared a wildlife conservation area. He decried the encroachment of elephants in his area, saying it was at an alarming rate even though Nkange was never demarcated as a wildlife management area.  

He dismissed government efforts of curbing human-wildlife conflict through the lifting of the hunting ban, saying the proposed hunting quota was far off the required number that could resolve the crisis.

 He said the government could not achieve the mandate to develop a tourism policy which would facilitate the participation of Batswana in the tourism sector while wildlife continued to be a threat to humankind.

 With human-wildlife conflict on the rise, Dr Tshabang said the tourism industry would continue to fail to attract local tourists as locals regard wildlife as a threat to their life.

 He decried poor road networks in his constituency, highlighting that they were hopeful of the tarring of the Maitengwe/Dagwi junction road as well as the Tutume/Goswe 15 kilometres road which was promised to be constructed in National Development Plan 11.

 He said there was also the need to build labour offices in his constituency as the community travelled to Francistown or Masunga for labour disputes settlements.

Furthermore, Dr Tshabang vowed to create an economic transformation that would end poverty and improve livelihoods by harnessing innovation, technology and the potential for business. 

 He said his representation in Parliament posed a new spirit of solidarity, cooperation and mutual accountability which underpinned the Nkange transformation agenda. Ends