Recreation Parks Crying For Maintenance

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Monday February 1, 2010 00:00

Even these two are not open for everyone as they sell alcohol and are not ideal for people who do not take alcohol, especially the youth who are under 18-years, as the law does not permit them to access places selling alcohol.

In the past, Gaborone City Council spent thousands of Pula building recreational parks around the city to be used by the public during their leisure time. However these parks have long since become white elephants and rather, hubs for criminal activities. To make matters worse, the equipment in such places has been vandalised because there does not seem to be anyone responsible for looking after it, in maintenance or repairs. The public is not even interested in using these places for recreation because they have been turned into garbage areas, littered with all sorts of dirt including used condoms, plastic containers and to top it all, overgrown vegetation. Truth be told, no recreation activity can take place under such conditions. 

But, the question that comes to mind is: who is responsible for taking care of these areas? Well, the recreation parks in Gaborone fall under the Parks and Cemetery division of the Gaborone City Council (GCC). According to the Town Clerk at GCC Agnes Serage, the Parks Division at the Council is responsible for leasing out the facilities for public events.

Serage says budget constraints at the council have been restricting them from maintaining the parks around town. She said due to shortage of manpower, they cannot have people assigned to look after these facilities on a full time basis.

'We do not have officers who can work full time, managing each facility around the city, so all of them are managed centrally at the parks division here,' she said. She says due to this shortage of manpower, officers are not able to attend to the parks regularly.

Serage said while they could charge a minimum entrance fee into the parks, the problem is that most of them are not developed. The only notable park in town is the Tsholofelo Park in Tsholofelo, which is maintained regularly. Others have vandalised play facilities for children, with damaged benches and overgrown grass. The places are really messy. The Monitor team took time to visit the nearest Extension Five park on Friday afternoon.

What could only be found at this park were rusty swings for children, which were hidden deep in tall grass. There are also some water ponds in the park filled with filthy water and a pungent smell coming from the pond.

It also shows that some people have turned the place into a dumping site with some black plastic bags piled next to a tree in the park. An abandoned volleyball court lies nearby. This turned out to be the common sight at most of these so-called 'recreational parks' scattered around the city. Residents in places located next to these parks complain about crime in their areas as criminals have taken to using the parks as hiding places to attack unsuspecting passers-by. 'This place is very dangerous, criminals hide here day and night. No day passes without someone being robbed in this park,' says a security officer at the Russian Embassy residence building, which is adjacent to the Extension five park.

Residents also complain about littering in such areas. It turns out some people are dumping waste and dead animals from their homes in the parks, resulting in pollution.

Asked what they are planning to do regarding such places, the town clerk said they are willing to develop these places so that they can serve their intended purpose. 'Our budget is very tight, we do not have money and manpower to develop and maintain these facilities,' Serage said.