25 Mar 2021

Kgosi Kgosietsile Letamo of Ditladi in the North East District has decried the poor state of the road that connects the village to market centres.

He said the 35 kilometre road between Tonota and Patayamatebele via Ditladi was in a bad condition and needed to be upgraded to bitumen standard or graveled to ease travelling. He noted that farmers used the road frequently to transport their produce to Francistown where there was a market.

Kgosi Letamo said farmers incured losses due to damages on their produce caused by the road.

“Farmers around here sell their fruits and vegetables to big chain stores such as Choppies, Spar, Shoprite as well as small businesses, and they demand good quality products,” he said. He added that some vegetables were fragile and sensitive and needed to be handled with care.

Kgosi Letamo said since most residents survived on farming, which was also the main source of employment, challenges that negated their efforts should be addressed.

 “One farm around here hired more than 100 people from the village. 

This helps address unemployment and because people are engaged, there is less crime,” he said.

He appealed to government to come up with other ways of creating employment, saying the Ipelegeng programme also benefited residents.

He complained that the youth engaged in small criminal activities.

He also warned residents about the dangers of not complying with COVID-19 health protocols, saying the disease continued to be a danger to mankind. ENDS