16 Sep 2022

- Residents of Maitengwe have been informed that the slaughtering of cattle and other livestock in their area is prohibited until further notice.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Maitengwe on Tuesday,  MP for Nkange constituency, Dr Never Tshabang said the prohibition followed an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the North East District at Butale.

He said since Tutume was part of veterinary area Zone 3C it has been declared a red zone and they would no longer be allowed to slaughter cattle within the area.

He said the prohibition was meant to control the disease so that it could be contained before it could spread beyond the areas it was detected in.

Dr Tshabang also informed residents that the Department of Veterinary Services had started vaccinating cattle in the affected areas and that it had been cordoned off with no movement of cattle.

However, he said they were allowed to buy and slaughter cattle from other zones, but  they needed a permit.

On other issues, the MP informed residents that government has reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) from 14 to 12 per cent for six months starting from August until January 2023. He further pointed out that VAT has been removed from cooking gas and cooking oil.

On other issues, Dr Tshabang also told residents that the police station project was 94 per cent complete.

Regarding the road project, he said the contract was terminated and the contractor removed from site, adding that a new tender for the project would be floated.

Kgosi Shadrack Mphala-Mengwe had earlier complained that since he took office in 2018 he found the police station project due for completion in May 2019 and that four years later the project was still not complete.

He said they were prone to cross border crime because they were located along the borderline.

The VIllage Development Committee chairperson, Mr Shadrack Balopi said sharing information was critical to them as people living in rural areas, hence the need to be given feed back by ministries and department

He said they were promised that their clinic would operate 24 hours before the outbreak of COVID-19 and that there has been no action or feedback.  ENDS