25 Jan 2022

The maintenance and refurbishment of Kasane primary hospital should be prioritised.

Chobe deputy council chairperson,and Kasane Central Councillor, Mr Shababa Munihango said this during a special full council meeting held to consult on the proposed projects for the District Development Plan (DDP) 9 and National Development Plan (NDP) 12 Monday.

Cllr Munihango said while a new hospital was envisaged in the current development plan, there was no guarantee money would be found before the end of the plan.  Therefore, it made sense to at least refurbish the existing hospital while awaiting finance for the new one, he said.

He said the current hospital’s was in a state of disrepair and it was imperative that its maintenance and refurbishment be prioritised. On education Cllr Munihango said Chobe needed a senior secondary school even if the current junior schools could not satisfy intake, as students from other districts could be admitted as boarders.

Cllr Simasiku Matengu applauded members of the District Development Committee for a job well done in planning for district projects and programmes.

He noted that infrastructure development came with employment opportunities, citing the Kazungula Bridge, which he said had created opportunities for the tourism sector.

He therefore said all infrastructure development should be fast tracked.

He suggested that infrastructure development for subsistence farming in Pandamatenga, which was placed as number 12 by the DDC should be prioritised to number two after the new hospital. Cllr Paul Chabaesele complained that community consultation on the development plans was done on short notice.

He encouraged the DDC to ensure that all the projects were anchored on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He said some, such as priority 10, which addressed the need for tower lights was not in line with the SDGs. Responding to the issue of the senior school, Chobe acting regional director (operations), Mr Elijah Motlhabi explained that the number of students who proceeded to senior secondary from the junior schools in Chobe was slightly over 200. 

He said the number did not warrant a senior secondary in the district as enrolment in senior school was 1 500 to 2 000 students.

While he comfirmed that students from Chobe were admitted 200km away, he said should a senior school be constructed in the district, the majority of students admitted to it would now be those from 300 km away. He suggested that since Chobe junior secondary was overpopulated, the councilt should propose that another junior secondary be built in the district.

He said the school could in future be turned into a unified secondary, he said.

Earlier in her presentation, Principal Economic Planner, Ms Tshoganetso Zilwa informed the councillors that DDC consulted the community between January 17-20 on critical district issues for NDP12/DDP9, and that from the proposals the committee came up with 12 priority projects.

She said the projects included the upgrading of Kasane Primary hospital, upgrading of internal roads in the district, upgrading of sewer reticulation systems and maintenance of existing networks in Plateau, Kasane and Kazungula. 

They also included the construction and maintenance of classrooms and staff houses, upgrading of Kachikau-Parakarungu gravel road to bitumen standard, as well as construction of district institutional houses.

Other proposed projects were the establishment and construction of a service centre in Kachikau, upgrading of health posts to clinics with maternity wings, upgrading of customary courts from Type 1 to Type 2, installation, testing and commissioning of tower lights, upgrading of Chobe JSS to a unified secondary school and infrastructure development for subsistence farming in Pandamatenga.

Ms Zilwa said other projects and programmes that were suggested by the community could be implemented through Public Private Partnerships (PPP), Constituency Community Projects, Ipelegeng, recurrent budget, Community Based Organisations (CBO) and VDCs. ENDS