24 Nov 2022

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s   recent announcement about the satellite launch has been described as a noble idea important for data research necessary for planning.

Contributing to the ongoing debate on the State-of-the-Nation Address, Nkange MP, Dr Never Tshabang however advised against spending more than P100 million on the project as there were more pressing issues to be prioritised.

Dr Tshabang said the education and health problems required immediate attention.

He said the state of affairs now pushed doctors in particular to leave government and open private practices.

He said the Presidential bull and ram donations were also a good idea and implored government to come on board and look for market opportunities for farmers.

He said the initiative was also handy for quality breeding.

The MP said overseas markets such as Saudi Arabia had not been explored and called on government to speed up implementation of the initiative for the benefit of Batswana.

Dr Tshabang said he was worried about lack of proper supervision for some projects in his constituency.

He said the Makwala Stadium project started well, but cost overruns had stalled the project as the constructor demands more.

He appealed to the minister to revise the North East-Tutume Sub-district water project that was supposed to supply 15 villages in the Nkange constituency as villagers were awaiting answers on what could have gone wrong.

Currently, stand pipes in about six villages in the constituency are dry.

On land allocations, Dr Tshabang applauded President Masisi’s pledge to allocate over 100 000 plots by the end of the year.

He however suggested that land planning and allocation processes were slow.

He pleaded with the ministry to consider relaxing land allocation processes, especially for areas such as Changate, which were not within the planning area.

He also thanked government for the upgrading of Tutume to a full district was a welcome development.

For his part, Lobatse MP, Dr Thapelo Matsheka said the rule of law was essential for sustained growth and development as well as the cornerstone for socio-economic development.

He said it was pleasing to learn of the diamond sector, but pleaded with Parliament to pull up the socks to unleash what was required going forward.

He said it was important to double the effort to promote economic growth.

Dr Matsheka said corruption was harmful to economic development and asked everyone to speak against corruption.

He said the credibility of institutions was measured by their believability in the fight against corruption.

He said Athlone hospital in Lobatse was in a bad state.

Dr Matsheka said Lobatse was an old town with dilapidated infrastructure, especially the water distribution network.

He said the drainage system was also poor, which posed a health hazard to residents.

He appealed to government to expedite the maintenance of facilities as the quality of infrastructure was basically what people saw when they visited the facility.

He said some old abandoned buildings around town were an eyesore and that he once requested government to repossess some of the buildings.

He said the envisaged Lobatse Revitalisation plan intended to make a new image of the town in line with urban development plans. ENDS