Why isn't Molepolole developing?
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday September 27, 2019 12:14
Council Chairperson, Geoffrey Sibisibi acknowledged the problems with the main one being water.
He was however quick to state that the water situation was improving as water from Molepolole boreholes has been cut off from supplying Thamaga. He however admitted that not all of the villagers would get water from the facility.
“Our main problem has been the Molepolole Development Plan.
It has been delayed for a long time but it is about to be concluded. All of these problems should be resolved in the 10-year span of the plan. Another problem is that of congestion on the roads. We have held talks with the ministry on how we can go about the roads. They told me they have estimated compensations at around P500 million,” he said.
On job creation, Sibisibi said they are doing all they can to assist facilitate job creation.
He said they try to ensure that locals benefit from their budget as the council that pays for projects. “When I came in five years ago, local empowerment was low. I am now happy that they get a better stake and are able to employ others. We also stood up to educate the informal sector on how we are supposed to work together. You will not hear of any conflict between us and them because we handled the matter well looking at the fact that there are no jobs,” he said.
He said the development plan would allow for more malls and more people will get jobs because they have large numbers. Sewage has also been a challenge stopping people from developing malls and other projects.
With the development plan we will achieve a lot,” he said.
For his part, Molepolole North legislator Mohammed Khan who has been in Parliament for only five years after trying his luck four times, believes Bakwena were over the past five years punished for voting for the opposition. He believes they were closer than ever to getting water but suspects Bakwena were denied service because opposition would get the credit.
“”These are ancient problems. Right now the BHC (Botswana Housing Corporation) cannot develop 250 houses at their plot because there is no water and sewage system.
As the village with the largest number of people, we should be getting more. Our former legislators were talking about same issues but nothing has been done. This shows that the country leadership is not doing something right,” he said.
Khan lamented that though money was approved for the said projects all of it ended up being diverted to different uses outside their constituency as if they are not in need.
Daniel Kwelagobe, who served the longest as Member of Parliament for Molepolole South expressed disappointment that many projects have been shelved. These problems could have long been solved because they do not start today, he said. “Water shortage, storm water drainage, police station and issues of internal roads have long been known by all former Presidents.
The reason why investors are not bringing business to Molepolole is because people still use pit latrines. All money for these projects has long been approved.
But when the projects are about to start, money gets diverted to other projects in other areas. What is painful is that our population is growing. Molepolole has never had enough water. I hope President Masisi will listen to us,” he concluded.
Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Kefentse Mzwinila said water shortage has been addressed and the situation would improve over the next two weeks.
“We are addressing each and every village as quickly and urgently as we can.
Once Molepolole has increased quantities we will increase to other villages. It is an incremental process. We increase supply at the source and then the nearby villages also get more water gradually, the effects will be realised over the next few weeks,” he said.