Masisi warns non-performing workers

Bame Piet | Wednesday December 17, 2014 22:47

 

On his first tour of his constituency (Manyana-Moshupa) since being appointed VP, Masisi’s second stop was in Manyana yesterday morning where residents complained about poor service by civil servants, and Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) amongst others.

The VP said the WUC was not established to make profit, but to supply water to the nation.

“We did not instruct Water Utilities to be cruel to you people, they should communicate with you when there are problems,” he said.

Residents had reported that WUC cut off the water for two weeks, only switching on a local pumping engine after learning that the VP was visiting the village. It also emerged during the meeting that the non-supply was caused by a pipe burst along the Boatle-Manyana pipeline.  Neither the headman, Kgosi Kebinatshwene Mosielele, the councillor Peter Sethibe, nor the District Commissioner were notified of the pipe burst.

“For two weeks there was no water in the village and nobody was telling us what was going on. There are engines that used to supply us with water, but Water Utilities only put them into use when they learned that the VP was visiting,” said Kgosi Mosielele.

Masisi informed the residents that the government is considering carrying out an investigation into WUC Billing System, which has left some people impoverished. Some people have been slapped with bills as huge as P20, 000 for domestic consumption, but WUC has never bothered to explain such huge bills to them.

Masisi urged people to conserve water, as it is evident that Gaborone Dam is drying up leaving the whole country to rely on the North South Water Carrier.

He said the government is also considering introducing nametags for civil servants in other services such as health, to make it easy for customers to identify the officers serving them. Government departments which have already introduced the nametags are; Botswana Defence Force, Botswana Police Service, Department of Prisons and Rehabilitation, and Department of Immigrations and Citizenship.  Masisi expressed dismay at some civil servants being on a ‘go-slow’ because they want better remuneration, when the people they are sabotaging could be their relatives.

The VP, on the other hand, cautioned customers to respect the people who serve them.

In his remarks, Kgosi Oscar Mosielele called for the rehabilitation of the Manyana-Moshupa Road, as well as the main road that connects Manyana to the Mmankgodi-Boatle Road. He also said the community has made contributions towards building a library, garden, and bus shelter.