23 Jan 2022

Water shortage and an odour pervading Boteti West will be addressed through the Boteti southern cluster villages water project scheduled to commence in a few months.

This was said by Vice President Slumber Tsogwane when addressing a kgotla meeting in Rakops recently.

He said the World Bank-funded project was currently at tendering stage.

It encompasses installation of a water treatment plant and water reticulation in the villages of Mokobaxane, Kedia, Mopipi, Xhumo, Toromoja, Rakops and Xere.

World Bank, he said, had released funds for the project and interested companies had already started making enquiries.

On other issues, the vice president informed residents that increased fuel prices resulted from suppliers having hiked charges.

Mr Tsogwane explained that as a non-oil producing country, Botswana was at the mercy of oil products suppliers.

He said compared to other countries, fuel prices in Botswana were still low because they were subsidised by government.

People from neighbouring countries bought fuel in Botswana because it was cheaper, he said.

About electricity tariffs, the vice president said they had gone up  because power generating companies needed money to generate it.

The aim was also to enable installation of power in villages  currently not yet electrified, he said.

Mr Tsogwane said in addition, funds were needed for maintenance of the power distribution network.

For his part Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson, Mr Baboni Mosesane requested government to speed up construction of the planned water treatment plant.

He requested paving of internal roads with proper drainage saying the roads were not user-friendly when it rained.

Mr Mosesane also called for an update on the stagnated stadium project.

He complained that the Department of Wildlife and National Parks took too long to compensate people.

He also requested a revenue office for Rakops.

In response, wildlife officer, Mr Mokwaledi Mafa said farmers delayed to submit certificates for processing of their payments.

Pulacard, he said, had been introduced to enhance service delivery and was processed free of charge.

Responding to the stadium issue, Boteti senior assistant council secretary,  Mr Christopher Maramba, said the contractor failed to deliver as per requirements, time and schedule therefore the plan was to terminate the contract.

Mr Maramba promised that the project would be completed soon. Ends