27 Jan 2013

About 64 households in and around Letlhakane were affected by the recent floods. The affected villages were Letlhakane, Mmatshumu, Motopi, Moreomaoto and Khumaga in Boteti Sub District.

The deputy district commissioner, Mr Loeto Porati said there was a likelihood of an increased number of the affected households since they were still assessing the affected areas.

All those affected, Mr Porati said were moved to safer areas. Some houses in Khumaga, Moreomaoto and Matopi that were covered with water, he said were on the verge of collapsing.

In Letlhakane, he pointed out that Phase One: Letsibogo and Phase Two wards were badly affected adding that six families were then relocated to safer areas.  The majority of those affected in the sub district, he said were either provided with food rations or tents temporarily.

Besides the challenges encountered such as shortage of transport to access the affected areas and manpower, Mr Porati said some government departments in the sub district responded well towards normalising the situation.

Also, he said they had to deal with complaints from some residents who wanted to force the local authorities to provide them with either food baskets or tents even though they did not qualify.

Some, he said wanted more than what the council could offer. The food backsets, he said were provided once while those housed in tents were given a minimum of three months to recover.

Another notable challenge, he said some of the affected able-bodied members of the community were not cooperative to erect tents for themselves and in the end forced the civil servants to erect the tents for them. Also, he said they were forced to engage casual labourers something that could have been avoided.

“We are supposed to assist those who are physically challenged and unable to pitch the provided tents but the situation that we had to face was very unfortunate,” he added.

Mr Porati said a final report on the situation in the area would be submitted to the Office of President. ENDS