Flares of unrest at Forestry Department

| Tuesday November 4, 2008 00:00

Please be cautioned that a situation at this department is really not good. I went there to ask for assistance, and the officer who was supposed to help me was very scared to give me information of what I wanted.

She directed me to the Director of the department, whom I heard that is always in the meetings at their Ministry. I learned that the director does not want her staff to service the public without her knowledge. I was told that only the districts staff is empowered than headquarters staff that has different professions and at the same time denied access to the rural farming communities.

I asked myself why do they have qualified staff in headquarters but without any powers to execute their duties to the public. Officers in that department told me that the Director and the deputy are the only ones who know what is happening within the department.

From look of things the department has very intelligent staff to service it, but the stumbling block is their director and the deputy. They run the department as if they are running their farms or private businesses. If an officer can assist a client without the director's knowledge, he/she will be called to order not to do that again, even if the director is not available.

I was informed that headquarters staff is not allowed to go out to the district to serve the public. Why some public officers rule like Pharaoh in our democratic country?

In headquarters, there are divisions and sections together with their staff members. But when you get to the districts, there are no divisions or sections like in headquarters. Officers in the districts are supposed to do everything; there is no particular officer responsible for a certain field like Conservation, Fire Management, Extension, Range Ecology and others.

I have never seen a department like that one in Botswana whereby officers are always threatened by their director for no apparent reason.

How can district staff have more responsibility than those at head office? I think there is a problem of mal-administration at the department of forestry and range resources.

The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, please stand up and try to see what is happening in that particular department before we take further steps to see the Minister or the President about the situation abusing officers and threatening them. Sometimes back in 2006, I went to the Department of Agricultural Research in Sebele, where I found a similar situation.

I was told that the present director of forestry and range resources is the one who was deputy director there. Now you can see that one officer is spreading and practising a very corrupt administration within government departments.Permanent Secretary, please stand up and reshuffle or deploy your directors to see if things are not going to change.

We can't sit down while at the same time suffering just because of individuals who misuse taxpayers' resources deliberately.

Please take action Permanent Secretary, your Forestry staff is frustrated by their director. If you don't take appropriate action, we will report this to the higher authorities for the betterment of service within that department. ' Namolang babereki ba forestry mo mathateng a director ya bone'

Concerned Farmer