24 Jan 2023

Palapye sub-land board is working round the clock to allocate plots at Lecheng and Malaka, says the board chairperson, Mr Isaac Maforaga.

Mr Maforaga explained to residents of Malaka during a kgotla meeting addressed by the area MP, Mr Sethabelo Modukanele on Friday that his committee intended to allocate plots at the two villages before August.

He said two other villages, Topisi and Moreomabele would also benefit from the exercise, urging residents of Malaka to give the land board some time to complete the plot layout which he said was at a design stage.

Mr Maforaga further explained that when his committee took over three years ago, Palapye sub-land board had a serious problem of long waiting lists, adding that his committee managed to push plot allocation in Palapye from 2003 to 2006.

Residents of Malaka thanked the land board for the feedback and called for more engagements from the board.

They asked the land board to fast track land allocation in their area, adding that lack of land had contributed to social problems in many families.

On other issues, residents complained about the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development’s decision to focus on internal roads across the country under the Constituency Community Project fund (CCP).

They said the ministry could have consulted with the nation first before taking such a decision because it disadvantaged other villages which had no problem of internal roads like Malaka village.

They said internal roads did not form part of their CCP priority list, requesting their MP who is also the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to reconsider the issue.

Malaka Primary School Parents Teachers Association chairperson, Mr Poloko Nyadze raised a concern over the general performance of schools under Palapye sub region, saying that there was a decline in academic results.

Mr Nyadze said Malaka primary schools which used to score 100 per cent in PSLE had now scored 69 per cent in the recently released 2022 PSLE results.

He also complained of many transfer outs from Malaka primary school to Lecheng primary school.

For his part, Mr Modukanele pleaded with the land board to give allocation of plots at Lecheng and Malaka utmost attention and ensure that allocation of plots was done just like in other areas.

Touching on CCP, he explained that government had introduced the development fund at constituency level in order to transform the economy and develop lives with each of the 57 constituencies receiving P10 million.

He said though the community through Village Development Committees was given the opportunity to choose projects to be undertaken through CCP, the area MP had a final word because the council was holding the money on behalf of MPs.

He said the agreement was that the funds be administered by the local authorities to enable them to supervise projects undertaken in villages.

Mr Modukanele however explained that if Malaka residents had no problem of internal roads then they could write to the ministry to consider channelling the funds to other projects.

MP Modukanele commended primary schools in his constituency for the job well done as no school performed below 60 per cent.

He urged parents and teachers to work together to improve academic results. Ends