19 Jan 2020

Tati East MP, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe, says Tonota-Patayamatebele gravel road has not been included in the National Development Plan 11 (NDP 11).

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Ditladi recently, Dr Letsholathebe, who is also the Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, explained that the gravel road could not be included in the financial plan due to financial constraints.

He said the road was  key to transportation of agricultural products to Tonota and Francistown.

Dr Letsholathebe assured residents that government would upgrade the road should funds become available, adding that there were other pressing needs that derailed government’s plans to develop Batswana.

On other issues, MP Letsholathebe encouraged the residents to venture into business to improve their living standard and fight unemployment.

He appealed to them to take advantage of the newly introduced breakfast menu in the primary school by selling eggs and other food stuff to the school.

Dr Letsholathebe also told the residents that Tati Land Board would speed up land allocation for residential and ploughing fields.

In addition, he said government would continue to negotiate for land with farm owners, adding that owners tended to hike prices when dealing with government. 

He explained that acquisition of land was based on a ‘willing seller and a willing buyer.’

In his remarks, Kgosi Kgosietsile Letamo complained about the bad state of the gravel road that connected the village to Tonota.

He also complained about water reticulation in the village, but applauded government for maintenance of the local primary school.

He requested government to increase the number of police officers in the village due to the increased crime rate. Ditladi chad one police officer who also covered Patayamatebele settlement.

Meanwhile, senior lands with Tati Land Board, Mr Tapologo Budani told the residents that the waiting list for residential plots stood at 2 155 whilst those for ploughing fields was 1 481 since 2010.

He explained that the land board made layout of 121 residential plots of which 16 people were physically allocated.

Mr Budani requested the residents to identify open spaces in the village for residential allocation in order to reduce the waiting list.

However,  Mr Budani  explained that application for ploughing fields had been temporarily suspended because of lack of land whilst application for residential plots was on going.

For their part, residents requested for the upgrading of their health post to a clinic, saying the population of the village had doubled.

In response, chief registered nurse at Tonota Main Clinic, Ms Gabaseme Mako told the residents that their health post could not be upgraded to a clinic due to financial constraints.

Ms Mako, however, said the Ministry of Health and Wellness had increased the number of nurses to three, but one of the nurses committed from Tati Siding due to lack of accommodation in Ditladi.

The health post operated 24 hours on a call and appealed to the residents to provide accommodation for the other nurse.

Another officer from the Francistown roads department, Ms Akalani Williams, told residents that the department would continue to gravel the road to improve its surface. Ends