30 Jan 2020

Residents of Shakawe have appealed to their Member of Parliament to advocate for the construction of the long overdue bus rank in the village.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting addressed by Okavango MP, Mr Kenny Kapinga recently, Kgosi Mutemo Mbambo said Shakawe had in recent years grown tremendously in terms of population and infrastructural developments, hence the need for facilities such as the bus rank.

He said given the number of buses and mini buses operating from Shakawe, the current area they used as a bus rank, cannot accommodate all the automobiles, as they have improvised the space between shopping complexes.

“The absence of a bus rank in a big village such as Shakawe has proved to be challenge. The situation worsens during rains because the space used currently is prone to flooding. We seriously need such a facility in our village,” he said.

Responding to the residents, the area MP Mr Kapinga shared the same sentiments that a bus rank was needed in the village.

He noted that Shakawe had always been the regional capital of Okavango as it housed various services.

“If developments had been strewn fairly or where they were needed the most, Shakawe bus rank would have long been constructed,” said Mr Kapinga.

In a related matter, Mr Kapinga said it was surprising that construction of the Sehithwa-Mohembo road was not included in the National Development Plan 11 despite the road being in a bad state.

He said the same deteriorated road was being used by tourists as a gateway to the northern part of the Okavango Delta through Shakawe village.

The MP also noted that Shakawe was a frontier village through which people from other countries such as Namibia accessed Botswana, adding that  worn out roads such as  Sehithwa-Mohembo leading to places like Maun were not good for the country’s image.

About the new Shakawe primary hospital which is under construction, Mr Kapinga said upon completion, the facility should be well resourced in all aspects and also with a state of the art technology.

He said there should not be instances where patients would be referred to other hospitals for particular medical attention, hence he expected the hospital to have specialist doctors.

Mr Kapinga also told his electorates that he would advocate for an establishment of a labour office in Shakawe as an urgent matter because the nearest office where people could access services was in Maun.

He said with such an office in Shakawe, it would mean no more traveling long distances to  access services in Maun.

Meanwhile, a resident, Mr Kaveto Kangumbe also stressed the need for the construction of the Sehithwa-Mohembo road.

He said the road was bad and it  put the lives of critically sick people carried in ambulances in danger because of many potholes and uneven surfaces.

He also said the state of the road did not allow ambulances to travel at a high speed during emergencies. ENDS