22 Mar 2022

 Customers owe Gaborone City Council (GCC)a staggering P56.8 million in different fees and loans, Mayor Father Maphongo has disclosed.

 Addressing a GCC meeting on Monday, he said road reinstatement fees debt was currently at P4.3million, service levy arrears,  P28.5million, building material loans P14 million while Turnkey arrears stood at P10 million.

He noted that the high debts were undesirable stifled the council’s ability to provide quality service to Gaborone residents. 

Councillors heard that 31 Self Help Housing Agency  applicants were awaiting funding and that  GCC had managed to allocate all the 349 SHHA plots which were given to the council in September 2019.

He urged new plot owners to pay their fees within the stipulated two-year period and to comply with all the development requirements.

On other issues, Mayor Maphongo informed councillors that not much had been achieved through the city illumination strategy despite efforts made and resources put into it.

He said all wooden poles in Babusi, Extension 20, Ginger and Block Nine had been replaced but  the challenge of dark streets still persisted.

Also persisting was cable theft and vandalism, the mayor said.

He noted that several street lights in the city were affected by the ongoing roads and water infrastructure upgrading.

Major roads were dark because of the ongoing works, he added.

 Mayor Maphongo pleaded with city residents to bear with the council as the developments were necessary.

He informed councillors that all new street lights would be solar powered adding that some had already been installed and the results were encouraging.

Solar street lights, he explained, operated as stand-alone while the kind currently in use operated in a circuit.

On a different matter, Mr Maphongo pleaded with males to refrain from sexual abuse and defilement. 

“The behaviour is not acceptable and demands harsh penalties,” he said.

He said in the first two months of this year, there was a sharp increase in cases of defilement. 

Regarding criminality, Mr Maphongo said the high crime rate in the country could deter tourists and investors. 

“People are being attacked along roads, especially intersections and speed humps," said the mayor noting that cash-in-transit heists were also on the increase.

BOPA