Tshipinare was invited by NWDC following a full council resolution that requested the Minister to come and shed light on why the district is lagging behind in development though Maun is referred to as Botswana’s tourist hub. Nominated Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) councillor Vister Moruti did not mince his words when he was given the opportunity to speak. “We are concerned about lack of developments in the district. We suspect that the money allocated to North West District are given to other districts,” he said. He told the Minister that NWDC cannot always appeal to President Festus Mogae, who listens to their problems. “We know that every Minister is there to serve the whole country,” he said.
The longest serving BDP councillor, Sebati Sebati, who will to retire after the general elections, lamented that the district is lagging behind in development. He wondered how a paltry P500,000 approved for roads by the Ministry can maintain all roads in the vast district. He said that before the new Maun referral hospital is completed, the road leading to the facility should be tarred. He complained that the maternity wing which was constructed in 1999 is now a white elephant while the design of the new Council Chambers was rejected by the Ministry, “even though the design was a tourist attraction”.
The councillors who were given the opportunity to talk lamented lack of developments, inadequate funding of projects and under staffing in some departments.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation and NWDC chairman, Luckson Sankwasa, briefed the Minister about a plethora of pending projects in the area.
Responding to the councillor’s grievances, the Minister said that financial constraints in the year 2003-2004 affected all projects countrywide. He informed the councilors that the Ministry intends to “fight backlogs in DDP6 and next year we will consider some of the Maun infrastructure Phase II development in our Mid Term Review.”
He agreed that people are facing problems in getting water in the area. He explained that some issues raised by the councilors fall under other Ministries and not Local Government.
