Phikwe Council throws weight behind SPEDU
Onalenna Kelebeile | Thursday April 17, 2014 15:22
This was said by Town Clerk, Poloko Mojalemotho, during the SPEDU Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS) Workshop on Wednesday.
He added that SPEDU is a true development partner and encouraged other development partners to position themselves to take advantage of the economic opportunities that are in the SPEDU region. He further noted that his council is convinced that the SPEDU region has great potential and that the REDS presents the solutions to the economic challenges facing the region.
“We believe that the region has the potential to serve as a model of regional economic development. Let us work together pushing forward a regional economic development agenda that we all embrace,” he added. SPEDU REDS’s aim is to spell out the vision of the future of the region and to serve as a roadmap outlining how the economic diversification of the region will be carried out.
The Town Clerk added that the success of the strategy will be determined by the levels of investment attracted to the region, the diversity, productivity and competitiveness of business and industrial activities, creation of employment, increase in average household incomes, decrease in income inequality as well as enhanced sustainable livelihoods of the people in the region.
Mojalemotho explained that in 2012 the council began the process of developing a 24-year development plan for Selebi-Phikwe. “The development plan is about to be finalised and I am happy that its implementation will form a core part of the implementation of the SPEDU REDS,” he added.
He emphasized that Selebi-Phikwe, being in the heart of the region, has vast natural, environmental, economic and cultural assets that include mineral deposits, water resources, heritage sites, wildlife areas and a hub for agricultural production.
Mojalemotho said that the town has problems of land, home ownership, poor educational and health services, poor recreational and sporting facilities as well as deteriorating infrastructure.
He revealed that Phikwe’s development plan, which is about to be finalised, proposes spatial development strategies that include intensification and densification of land development, increased flexibility in the approval of land use changes, delineation of the township boundaries and application of urban design concepts and principles.