Cllrs decry storm water drainage project delay
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday February 18, 2014 15:21
Councillors argued during the 2014/15 Recurrent Budget's special full council that the project was long overdue.
The civic leaders make their feelings known following a presentation of the 2014/15 Recurrent Budget by the Finance Committee Chairperson, Raoboy Mpuang.
He said that the government had said it would not finance any new project until after 2016.
Mpuang said the only storm water drainage project financed was of Area W at the tune of P4,553,500. Councillors complained that the storm water drainage project has been shelved for years and was excluded from the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, despite the annual floods which has spilled into and destroyed people’s property.
They said that it was time government prioritised projects that affect people‘s lives.
They said because of the poor drainage, the recent incessant rains left the city in floods putting people’s lives at risk. Hence, the councillors said the upgrading of the storm water drainage system in the city needed urgent attention.
Stanley Masalila, councillor of Tatitown ward, one of the areas prone to floods, advised council that since the government was faced with financial constraints, they could learn from and benchmark with cities such a Johannesburg in South Africa.
Masalila said this could cost the council less money than thinking of difficult things. “When driving around Johannesburg on most of their roads there are manholes allowing water to flow into underground pipes and reducing chances of floods in the city. “I think we can benchmark with such cities to develop our city rather than wait for the government to finance this long awaiting project,” said Masalila.
He said that council could consider digging trenches to take water to the river especially in areas not far from the river, such as Somerset Extension and Selepa.
Councillor Buti Billy of Satellite South said that financing only water drainage at Area W is not enough because floods affect the whole city during the rainy season. “I think the time has come for us to pressure government and show them the needs and concerns of people of Francistown and consider addressing the issue of storm water drainage system in the city as a whole, “ he said.
He said that residents refused to pay service levy because they do not see what the money is used for. “They give examples of poor internal roads and the dilapidated storm water drainage system in the city,” said Billy. Councillor Stephen Michael of Ipopeng ward said the issue of the storm water drainage system was a cause for concern and a real snag in the development of the city.
He said that the majority of locations in Francistown still use pit latrines because their locations were omitted during the installation of sewage pipes in the last financial year. Meanwhile the city Mayor James Kgalajwe agreed that the issue of storm water drainage system in the city was a problem and suggested that they should also consider asking for funds from ministries to address issues like this.