10 May 2021

Nxamasere Village Development Committee (VDC) has reportedly ventured into brick manufacturing in a bid to generate more income to develop the community.

Chairperson, Mr Ditlhapi Atsowe revealed in a recent interview that the project was the brain child of the current committee, which took over in 2018, after realising that there were no other sources of income except house rentals.

He said the committee had 19 houses, only six of which were occupied, while some needed maintenance, which could not be undertaken due to financial constraints. Mr Atsowe said the committee then took a decision to utilise the little funds in the VDC coffers to venture into brick moulding because there was high demand for bricks in the village and its catchment areas.

He said the project was also targeting council projects such as construction of destitute houses. 

He said their plan was to plough back into the community by identifying needy persons and assisting them, but it had been thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as they had to suspend the project for some time, adding that the council also had to halt its project implementation.

Mr Atsowe said the project was doing well prior to the pandemic, even though they experienced challenges of shortage of sand and water, which they had to buy from individuals at a high price.

He explained that the project bounced back after lockdown, but the sales were low, saying he was hopeful that things would improve once the pandemic situation stabilised. 

Mr Atsowe acknowledged the council’s efforts to provide shelter for the needy, saying it constructed two houses every year. 

He also appreciated that the VDC had been tasked with coordination of projects under the Constituency Community Programme (CCP), whose objective was economic empowerment of communities and job creation.

He revealed that the programme had been running smoothly as they managed to modify some of the VDC houses, while some were upgraded to LA2.

He said the connection of water at Nxamasere East was yet another project that was running.

Mr Atsowe said CCP projects for the 2021/22 financial year had been approved, with P200 000 allocated to electrifying VDC houses. “We have benefitted a lot from CCP since its inception and we wish the initiative could continue,” he added. Ends