21 Jan 2014

Tswapong North MP, Mr Prince Maele has appealed to tractor owners to desist from requiring a deposit from farmers who plough under the Intergraded Support for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) as that might force government to involve foreigners in the programme.

Mr Maele said it was difficult for government to stop tractor owners from insisting on a deposit but noted that other alternatives should be considered so that farmers get help in time.

He was responding to residents’ concerns that tractor owners asked for the P200 deposit before they ploughed for them during kgotla meetings in Tswapong North villages recently.

The residents said they did not know why they were supposed to pay the deposit because government was the one funding the whole exercise. Mr Maele however said the tractor owners were making it hard for farmers to plough by asking for the deposit because most of them did not have that amount of money.

He however appealed to the tractor owners to work with government because the ISPAAD program was carved for the benefit of both tractor owners and farmers.

Mr Maele said tractor owners should re-examine their decision because it might jeopardise their relationship with the government. On other issues, Mr Maele asked the youth in the Tswapong North to register for the newly introduced program of Tirelo Setshaba whose intent was to reduce unemployment in the country.

He said in the programme, youth aged between 20-30 years would serve at their respective villages in different government departments. On other issues, residents complained that some farmers did not look after their livestock which had started to destroy their crops.

Mr Joshua Phillip who resided in Maunatlala said his crops were recently destroyed by goats but he did not know what to do. He said when he asked the owner of the goats to come to the field to assess the situation he refused and asked him to come to Maunatlala instead.

He said a law had to be made to protect their crops. ENDS