'Botate' Weeps In Parliament
Pini Bothoko | Monday December 9, 2019 12:46
Moatlhodi, famous for rolling on the ground at political rallies, on Friday pulled another stunt in Parliament when he burst into tears stating that government has neglected the people of Nata/Gweta who were affected by floods in 2017.
“Puso e tshameka ka batho ba Gweta. Re bua ka Batswana eseng batho ba Zimbabwe kana batho ba Malawi. Despite having been left homeless by the 2017 floods, government seems not to be interested in assisting the dire situation faced by the people of Gweta. Their situation hurts,” Moatlhodi said as he sobbed in tears.
MP for Sefhare/Ramokgonami, Kesitegile Gobotswang was by his side to comfort him.
Moatlhodi burst into tears as he attempted to make an input in a question raised by Nata/Gweta MP, Polson Majaga who had asked the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Kabo Morwaeng how the Nata/Gweta constituents were assisted in the aftermath of Dineo floods.
He also asked the minister if he was aware that the roads, which were damaged during the floods, have not been repaired to date and whether the people who were affected were compensated, if not what was causing the delay in assisting them.
Majaga also wanted to know if the people whose homes, ploughing fields and cattle posts, which were destroyed by the floods, were allocated alternative pieces of land. He equally wanted to know whether all government departments that were supposed to help played their roles in assisting the affected people as per government requirements.
e also wanted to know if the affected people received any form of counselling following the disaster. Responding to Majaga’s question, Morwaeng said 60 households were affected at Tsokatshaa village, 193 at Gweta, 53 at Zoroga and some households were assisted with tents and food baskets. He stated that his Ministry has also commissioned a study on how to reduce the impact of floods particularly in Gweta and Zoroga.
He stated that the study was ongoing and is due for completion beginning of 2020 financial year. Morwaeng said upon completion, the study would recommend appropriate flood mitigation measures that include how floodwaters should be re-directed.
“Disaster risk management plans have also been developed together with the communities to prepare for future floods. I am aware of the maintenance of the roads that were affected by Dineo floods. Roads department in-house team is currently carrying out pothole patching on the Nata/Gweta road as a short term solution.”
Morwaeng added that government does not provide compensation to those affected by disasters. He rather said the affected households are provided with relief supplies such as food baskets and tents depending on the results of the assessment conducted by the District Disaster Management team.
He said the people whose homes, ploughing fields and cattle posts were destroyed have not yet been reallocated land pending strategic environmental assessment, adding that once it has been finalised they will be given first priority.
Majaga requested that Nata/Gweta be declared a disaster area, owing to the frequent disaster that befell the area. Responding to Majaga’s question, other MPs said there should be compensation plan specifically for the area because residents have turned out to be poor due to rampant floods.