F/town Proposes P6.8bn For Development
Pini Bothoko | Monday October 26, 2015 14:33
Updating councillors on the proposed budget during a special full council meeting on Friday, mayor Silvia Muzila said it was important they meet to plan for the city’s next six years under UDP4 and the National Development Plan 11 (NDP11).
Muzila encouraged councillors to make valuable and meaningful contributions that will take the city to another level in the coming years.
She said that since they do not have a separate budget for the city’s Vision 2022 they should make sure that the proposals mainstream the implementation of the vision.
Muzila called on councillors to come up with proposals that will address issues such as poverty eradication, local economic development and sustainable development because they were not submitted before.
She encouraged councillors to bring forth projects that are of priority to the city because it may not be possible to do all of the projects in a six-year period.
Muzila said economic growth and employment creation are a top priority to this country and she believes that it is also a priority to the city as envisaged for 2022. Shortage of accommodation for teachers and council staff are some of the things that Muzila highlighted to be a priority to their proposed projects.
She also said that Francistown has challenges of poor storm water drainage, which cause the city to flood during the rainy season, thus causing damage to property - something that has been a worry to the community of Francistown for years.
“In all Kgotla meetings people complained of a bad smell that is generated from the old sewage system and spillages from old pipes, which have now become a health hazard and issues like this need urgent attention,” she said. She added that regarding this issue there is a need to maintain the Mambo Treatment Plant so that it can be effective.
There are some left out pockets of unserviced land when servicing of the city was undertaken, which Muzila said, need to be addressed as one of the priorities in the effort to develop the city.
“There is a need for us to continue servicing the land at Gerald Estate as the community needs more residential, commercial and industrial plots,” said Muzila.
She said as they continue to attract investors into the city they will need such plots where the investors will reside and where they will operate their businesses.
She said one other major area of concern is street lighting. The issue has been raised in every full council meeting that the city is not adequately lit, she said.
Muzila disclosed that another thing that the community has been pushing for is of a primary hospital, youth centre, development of parks, weighbridge, dualling of internal roads and upgrading dust roads to bitumen standard.
She said that they also wish to increase the number of 24-hour operating health facilities so as to bring services closer to the people and to reduce congestion at other clinics.
In their responses councillors were impressed by the proposed projects saying a lot of them have been the city’s concern and were included with hopes that should they be implemented they could take the city’s development forward.
They pleaded with council to make sure that a majority of the projects are implemented, as well as taking advantage of the government’s proposed Economic Stimulus Package.