27 Oct 2022

Government is working round the clock to re-open the Francistown slaughtering abattoir, which has been closed for quite a long time, says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

He said this when responding to a question posed by former Francistown MP, Mr Vain Mamela during a kgotla meeting in Senyawe on Wednesday.

Mr Mamela had wanted to know when the Francistown abattoir would be opened for the slaughter of cattle.

“The abattoir was closed because it was no longer viable due to insufficient supply of cattle in the catchment area,” President Masisi responsed.

He explained that at some point government was forced to use the profits generated by the Lobatse abattoir to sustain both the Francistown and Maun abattoirs.

“Plans are also in motion to open the Francistown facility for the slaughter of small stock for the lucrative Middle East markets,” he said, calling on farmers to work towards increasing small stock in the district.

The number of small stock in the North East District, President Masisi noted, was very low compared to other districts.

It is to this end that he implored farmers in the North East District to utilise the Impala rural training centre to augment the small stock head and make the abattoir more viable.

The President said Botswana was one of the best countries in managing animal diseases including Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

Meanwhile, residents learnt also that cloven-hoofed wild animals and small stock would not be depopulated like cattle because there was no trace of the disease on either of the two.

In the event that the disease could be detected in the two, depopulation would follow forthwith.

On other issues, President Masisi said the government had taken a decision to do away with the Constituency Development Funding and channel the monies towards the construction of internal roads throughout the country using interlock bricks.

He said the project would create employment for Batswana especially the youth thereby improving their standard of living.

He regretted that many projects were shelved due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which had derailed government development plans.

Minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao told the residents that about 38 wild animals and an undisclosed number of small stock were tested for FMD but none were found with the disease.

Mr Molao urged farmers to gear up for the new agricultural programme expected to start during the next ploughing season.

For his part, the Minister of Defence and Security, Mr Kagiso Mmusi informed residents that government had taken a decision to deploy a Special Support Group (SSG) in villages along the border with Zimbabwe to beef up security.

In addition, Minister stated, Botswana Police Service would by next year establish a unit that would specifically focus on cross-border crime.

He said government had given BPS a green light to recruit 1 000 police officers to reinforce crime-busting along the border.

The package, he said would include specialised police vehicles with covet cameras that would further help in the fight against cross-border crime. Ends