19 Jan 2020

The Member of Parliament for Tati West, Mr Simon Moabi has pleaded with villages under the Ntimbale Conservation Trust to join forces and work hard to ensure the upcoming dam tourism project benefits people in their locality.

The Ntimbale Conservation Trust comprises of eight villages in North East District being Botalaote, Toteng, Makaleng, Matenge, Gulubane, Masingwaneng, Mambo and Sechele.

Addressing kgotla meetings in these villages, Mr Moabi stated that government acknowledged the role played by dams in the country hence the need to further develop them into tourism sites.

The MP urged residents to cooperate with the consultant that was engaged to carry out a research study how to go about the project.

He highlighted that it was important for all the villages to take consultations seriously to ensure that the findings gathered reflected the truth.

Mr Moabi stated that he was planning a meeting with the trust committee members to map a way forward and come up with a comprehensive plan on how the dam could benefit locals.

He further indicated that it was vital that the Ntimbale dam challenge should be revived because it generated income for people in the neighbouring villages.

The MP said the dam tourism project was important for the growth of the district as it would create employment opportunities for many Batswana.

On other issues, the MP stated that he was aware of the bad state of road network connecting Makaleng to Gulubane, Masingwaneng, Mambo and Sechele.

He highlighted that he was hoping that during the NDP 11 review, government would consider upgrading the road from Gulubane to Letsholathebe to bitumen standard.

He said this was the shortest route to Masunga where all the government offices were located, adding that the road from Letsholathebe to Masunga was one of the access roads to be constructed under the Tshesebe-Masunga road project.

Kgosi Ezekiel Gulubane and Kgosi Solomon Masingwaneng congratulated the MP on his new role as an MP and further stressed that he should look into advocating for the improvement of road infrastructure in the district.

The village leaders further advised the MP to never cease to engage with electorates, promising  to keep him abreast  of issues in the constituency.

Residents also wished the MP well in his assignment as a Member of Parliament and further promised to work well with him. Ends