16 Jan 2020

The Member of Parliament for Jwaneng-Mabutsane, Mr Mephato Reatile says it is embarrassing to note that despite Jwaneng being host to a renowned mine, the town itself was so filthy. 

Speaking at a kgotla meeting at the town on Wednesday, Mr Reatile said that Jwaneng mine often hosted international visitors for benchmarking purposes as it was a leader in planning, safety and production, but said that the cleanliness status of the township itself was nothing to derive pride from. 

He therefore urged the Jwaneng Town Council and the Ward Development Commitees (WDCs) to put more effort into cleaning the town, especially that most of the waste around was human made. 

“Until the town is cleaned up, any efforts towards putting development projects around will not make it appealing, even to investors from outside,” he said. 

On other issues, Mr Reatile said WDC houses should be used to help address shortage of accommodation for civil servants, rather than profit making. 

“Giving the civil servants accommodation should be your priority because government is not in the business of making profit. Profit making should be left to the private sector,” he cautioned. 

Mr Reatile said that for WDC to rent out property for profit would be contrary to government procedures. He remarked after the chairperson for WDC, Ms Sheila Mlazie indicated in her report that they had bought seven houses from Botswana Housing Corporation and leased them out in an effort to sustain the committee. 

She clarified that the said seven houses were leased to government to accommodate civil servants. 

“Five of the houses have been leased by the central government, while two have been leased by the council. As WDC we are well aware of our mandate and would not deliberately derail from it,” she said. 

Ms Mlazie also indicated that the township faced shortage of doctors in its clinics as those that go on transfer or study leave were never replaced, which put a strain on the mine’s hospital. She also complained about shortage of office space at the local police station, and said the WDC had made a decision to use the constituency fund to procure porta cabins to augment the offices at the police station. 

Meanwhile, Mr Reatile commended the WDC for its other projects such as outdoor gyms and proposed screen walls at primary schools.  ends