03 Feb 2014

Francistown deputy mayor, Ms Joyce Ndove says 97 projects in Francistown were funded by the council under alternative packages.

Officiating at the graduation ceremony of 91 poverty eradication beneficiaries who were trained in fashion design, catering, salon, upholstery, textile and shoe repair on January 31, Councillor Ndove said  in Francistown East constituency, 20 beneficiaries were funded while Francistown West and South each had 51 and 26 funded beneficiaries respectively.

Councillor Ndove said all the 97 funded beneficiaries were also trained on business management. She explained that under the poverty eradication initiative 1 905 beneficiaries were registered out of which 1 897 were assessed and 1 303 recommended for different categories under different departments such as agriculture and genders affairs.

She said the council was mandated to assess and screen beneficiaries to ensure that they have space and would be able to carry out the projects. “We do not want to be seen to be dishing out monies on projects that will not have an impact in people’s lives,” she said.

She lamented that the poverty eradication and economic empowerment programmes faced challenges that resulted in slow funding and production. Councillor Ndove said some of the challenges were limited space in yards that result in no space for backyard gardens, lack of space to start projects and lack of skills to implement projects.

“Lack of skills to implement projects has become more problematic because there is only one training institution in the northern region catering not only for Francistown but the region as a whole,” she explained.

Ms Ndove said the other challenge was that most residents in the city were highly mobile in search of greener pastures and this created a problem of assessment and monitoring.

She, however, said the challenges could not deter the council in ensuring that the number of people living in abject poverty are reduced. Earlier, the town clerk, Mr Lebuile Israel said training poverty eradication beneficiaries was aimed at horning their skills prior to funding and empowering them to have ownership of their projects.

Mr Israel said as part of the government’s efforts to assist beneficiaries, an arrangement has been made that councils should procure goods from P0-P100 000 locally without open tenders. He encouraged beneficiaries to ensure they prioritise cleanliness in order for their products to appeal to customers.

One of the beneficiaries whose bakery is operational, Mr Joseph Itumeleng encouraged the graduates not to depend on the council for everything but be determined to boldly face challenges. He encouraged them not to use business funds for personal use.

The chairperson of the education, health and social services committee, councillor Stephen Michael encouraged beneficiaries to take their projects seriously and to be exemplary to others. He urged them to produce quality products in order to be competitive. The theme of the graduation was: Skills development- a pathway to achieving self-sustainability and bridging the education. ENDS