12 Mar 2014

Central District councilors have approved the April 2013 to February 2014 Ipelegeng report with reservations

Speaking during the ongoing full council meeting in Serowe on Tuesday, March 11, some councillors said the report needed a lot of improvement, as it had remained the same over the years and some projects were outdated.

Councillor Solomon Dikgang of Tidimalo Ward in Serowe said he felt the report was not detailed especially as some challenges were omitted.

He argued that there were many challenges that hindered the Ipelegeng programme and they were not mentioned in the report. These included, among others, bad supervision which led to some employees being permanent and inconsistent payment of employees.

He said omission of the challenges meant they could not be addressed, with the result, the programme would fail to deliver. Maphula ward councilor Mr Onneetse Ramogapi said the Ipelegeng report system should be updated as it was the same from year to year.

Councillor Botshabelo Solomon of Ratholo also argued that ipelegeng report did not have anything new, saying projects should be allocated as per the needs of the sub district. Earlier on when briefing the councilors, CDC Ipelegeng Coordinator Mr Boitseweemang Katlholo said the district was implementing 1, 222 projects which included 1 140 planned projects and 82 of maintenance of tribal facilities.

Mr Katlholo said from these projects only 511were 100% complete while 91 projects had not taken off. He explained all projects for maintenance of tribal facilities across the district with only the exception seven in the Tutume sub district and three projects at Palapye were complete.

The incomplete projects were are at mobilisation stage, he said. On employment issues, Mr Katlholo explained that the district monthly employment quota of 16 048 beneficiaries was increased by 1 085 beneficiaries to 17 133 from September.

He said the increase was due to drought relief intervention measure in the Bobirwa, Boteti and Tutume sub districts. Mr Katlholo noted the cumulative employment figure of beneficiaries from April 2013 to February 2014 was 160 421, 116 201 females and 44 220 males, adding the number of youthsemployed under the programme stood at 58 191 beneficiaries.

However, Mr Katlholo said the programmewas faced with some challenges which included vandalism of the drift fence and delayed delivery of building materials. He said the programme also faced shortage of water in some project sites resulting in slow implementation of projects. Ends