Borolong welcomes ESP

Pini Bothoko | Wednesday October 21, 2015 16:22

The residents said this during a kgotla meeting Monday, to update them on the ESP by their area Member of Parliament, Fidelis Molao who is also the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development.

Giving the Village Development Committee (VDC) report, Pilot Muzila, the VDC chairperson, revealed that they are hopeful that ESP will address the challenges their village has faced for years.

Muzila said their main concern is the overcrowding of learners at Borolong Primary School that has been a worry for years.

He said that despite the other challenges they are faced with, they would like government to consider constructing a second primary school to address the current situation.

“Children attend lessons under trees and the situation has been affecting their performance as teachers complain of pupils’ lack of concentration” he said.

He also said that they are hopeful that the ESP will address shortage of civil servants’ accommodation, complaining that some officers commute from as far as Francistown to work and this affects productivity.

Muzila expressed hope that their health post, recently upgraded to a clinic, will be equally upgraded with better infrastructure and a maternity wing.

“Borolong is a service centre and we wish to see this village matching this standard with all resources, not just a name like it is today. There is a shortage of offices in our kgotla and we are hopeful that with ESP all of these needs will be addressed,” said Muzila.

The government of Botswana recently announced a plan to draw about US$8.5 billion from its foreign reserves to boost a sluggish economy.

Molao said the impending ESP package would address sectors of education, health, tourism, transport, communication and agriculture.

He disclosed that Botswana currently has about US$88 billion in its foreign reserves, which is about 24 months import cover.

He said that when the country was faced with recession back in 2008, the majority of the developments failed with some deferred, due to shortage of funds.

“The country has been saving money in its foreign banks and we have decided to take a portion of this money to try to boost the country’s economy. I am therefore hopeful that as Borolong you will also benefit from this initiative,” said Molao.

He said with ESP, government plans to address unemployment facing the country especially among the youth.

He said government’s plan is to implement ESP in six months time and turn Botswana into a construction site.

He explained that the programme would address backlog of classrooms, as there has been shortage in this area, adding that about 753 classrooms will be built to address the situation.

“There has been a challenge of shortage of science laboratories and government intends to construct 175 laboratories and 5,390 staff houses,” said Molao.

Molao said for years there has been a worry of shortage of accommodation for teachers but this will be addressed in the ESP programme.

He called on farmers owning farms along Shashe and Tlhalogang rivers to be prepared to take advantage of the programme and consider horticulture farming.

Molao called on farmers to consider ploughing to feed the whole nation as government plans to block the import of food.

He said that government spends around P800 million every year importing food for departments like health, prisons, schools, to mention a few, where there is feeding ration, but now intends to buy those foods locally.