Lack Of Development Frustrates Salajwe Residents
Pini Bothoko | Monday April 1, 2019 14:37
The road in question is the 70km gravel road that begins after Letlhakeng village.
Salajwe’s senior chief representative Moalo Gaerupe said his village developments are lagging behind, placing all the blame on the poor state of the road that connects them with Letlhakeng village.
“The major problem we are facing in this village is the poor state of the road. This road is in bad shape. We take our vehicles to mechanics almost daily due to the bad road,” Gaerupe said.
He said they have been pleading with government though their village councillors and Member of Parliament for the construction of the road for decades to no avail. He said other than the fact that people and motor vehicles travel on it nothing justifies calling the stretch a road.
“It is full of hidden hazards particularly for the motorist who uses it regularly. The owners of the cars have to have the vehicle repeatedly serviced. The road has loose stones and streams running across it, forcing motorists to drive at a snail’s pace,” he said.
He said the construction of the road has been the top of their village priorities for a very long time, but Kweneng District Council has done nothing to alleviate the suffering of the residents.
Gaerupe said the road is graded almost every month because it has traffic from tourists’ cars to Khutse Game Reserve, however, that does not improve the state of the road. He said decades ago they were told that there was no money to have the road tarred, but since the country’s economy has increased years ago they had hoped the road would be attended to.
Reached for comment, the inhabitant of this village, Leduma Ntshotla, 34, said, “Ah mma rona jaaka o bona re bona go kgamisiwa lerole ke makgoa mo motseng o, jaaka o bona dikoloi tse di fetang tse di tswa tse dingwe di ya Khutse Game Reserve. Re tshelela mo leroleng”.
Ntshotla said they had thought that the time they were isolated from wild animals years ago the government was intending to bring services to them to no avail.
He stated that the money that is used to gravel the road on a monthly basis could be used to construct a tarred road that connects them with Letlhakeng village. He said there are no developments in their village because no one is willing to come and invest in their village due to the bad state of the road.
Another resident, Mopalo Legopelo, 86, shared the same sentiments as Ntshotla that the construction of the road in their village is over due and something should be done. He said if one can visit their village, especially during peak season and count the cars that pass through their village, one would be shocked.
“We are located a few kilometres away from Khutse Game Reserve and had expected as a road that brings money into the country as it is used by tourists it would have long been tarred, but shockingly to date we are still pleading for help,” Legopelo said.
He stated that majority of villagers have respiratory problems due to the dust that the road produces as cars pass through their village.
Legopelo said travelling in this road is a nightmare because when arriving at a destination one’s body will be aching everywhere.
The village councillor, Lopang Sebutlenyane said there is no gathering in the village that can go by without villagers complaining about the state of the road. He said that the former village leadership has tried to talk about the road at council as well as at Parliament to no avail.
“This road is giving residents sleepless nights, even if you ask a small children what is your village’s major concern they will say the road. I have long talked about it and it has been on the top of our priorities for years, but the answer that I have been getting is that there was no money. There is no civil servant who enjoys working in this village and you can imagine if that person could deliver to their expectations. There were some civil servants who had to return back after arriving in our village due to this road. We need this road to be tarred,” he said.
Sebutlenyane said some people have lost their lives when transported from neighbouring villages to Salajwe clinic as the ambulance had to travel at a snail’s pace.
He revealed to have tried to attract entrepreneurs to invest in his village, but failed as all of them complain of the bad state of the road.
“Residents are struggling to travel in this bad state to buy things as far as Letlhakeng village because we do not have shops. Even the accident that killed Macha senior secondary school students years ago could have not happen if they were using a better transport, but that truck was the only mode of transport that could be used in our area. It hurts we need a better road,” Sebutlenyane said.
He said even the youth of village the only projects that they settle for is small stock production because other projects have failed as supplies could not cope with the state of the road.