31 Jan 2021

Government has institutional houses throughout the country for use by officers who are required to live in a particular locality for them to perform their duties, Ntlo Ya Dikgosi has learnt.

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Sethabelo Modukanele said such institutions included Botswana Defence Force, Botswana Police and Prions Services, schools and colleges of education.

He said institutional houses were budgeted for, built and managed directly by the relevant institutions.

To this end, he said there could be some instances whereby such houses were allocated and occupied on sharing basis to alleviate acute shortage of housing for pubic officers.

This arrangement, whilst not ideal, is allowed as it improves access to government housing to some public officers, who are required to be housed in a particular location for the performance of their duties, he said.

“I do concur, it would be most beneficial to allocate institutional houses on non-sharing basis where there is adequate housing, particularly in view of the current COVID-19 pandemic and other health challenges,” he stated.

Mr Modukanele was answering a question from Kgosi David Toto II of Kgalagadi South Region, who wanted the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Development to reconsider allocation of institutional houses on sharing basis due to risks posed by COVID-19. ENDS