07 Dec 2021

 Lack of teamwork within Gaborone City Council is impeding service delivery and has created two centres of power.

“Certain key imperatives in the council’s endeavour to deliver quality services are missing. For instance, team work and this has created two centers of power,” the city’s mayor Mr Father Maphongo said in Gaborone Monday.

 The mayor, who was addressing a full council meeting, said along with good governance and partnerships, teamwork was critical to delivering quality services.

 He therefore called on councillors to self-examine in order to better serve the community.

Regarding projects funded under the Economic Recovery Transformation Plan, the mayor said construction of Gaborone’s two primary schools was proceeding well.

He said ground breaking ceremonies for the Phase IV and Block 6 projects were done on October 28 and November 4 respectively.

Mr Maphongo said construction of the schools was in line with priority number five of the Reset Agenda which advocated for change and citizen economic inclusion.

“We have taken a deliberate decision of implementing these projects in-house without engaging consultants, thus developing capacity for our officers and also citizen economic empowerment will be achieved as local companies have been awarded the tenders,” he said.

Mayor Maphongo also told the meeting that construction of two by three classroom blocks at Ikageng Primary School had commenced.

The project would address shortage of teaching space at the school and also allow for the introduction of pre-primary or reception classes, he said.

Mr Maphongo said also underway was  the Japanese government sponsored construction of a special unit block at Ledumang Primary School.

The project, he said, would go a long way in addressing challenges currently faced by learners with disability.

Other critical projects that the mayor highlighted were with regard to  city illumination expected to be completed during the next quarter of the financial year.

A tender for supply and installation of solar streetlights around government enclave had been awarded while installation of similar streetlights in Block 3 was at 80 per cent completion, he said.

On other issues, Mr Maphongo noted that both the eleventh National Development Plan (NDP 11) and the fourth Urban Development Plan (UDP 4) periods were coming to an end in March 2023 which called for preparations for the next planning period.

He encouraged councillors to continue engaging key stakeholders to solicit key issues even though the Ministry of Local Government and Lands had withdrawn the instruction to start consultations. 

Mr Maphongo urged councillors to participate in and advise on consultations for the consitutional review exercise.

He noted that President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi stated in the latest State-of the-Nation Address that government continued to review labour laws to close gaps, facilitate ease of doing business and align them with international labour standards.

“This then calls for all Batswana to familiarise themselves with these laws,” he said.BOPA