Francistown councillors say Disaster Committee did not assist enough

KEABETSWE NEWEL
Correspondent | Friday November 12, 2010 00:00

The disaster committee, chaired by the district commissioner, and made up of social welfare officers, the police and Botswana Defence Force, briefed the councillors and the media on the amount of destruction caused by the thunderstorm that hit the city of Francistown on Friday. Some councillors accused the committee of giving undue attention to certain sections of the town at the expense of other equally deserving places. The councillors insisted that no assessment was done in their wards.

Francistown Central Councillor, Ephraim Maiketso, was disappointed that the report given by the committee was not enough as nothing was said about his ward yet many people there were affected.  Biki Mbulawa of Philip Matante West agreed with Maiketso adding that he was concerned that the Botswana Power Corporation did not remove the cables which were posing a serious threat to the public.

'In my ward, school children were playing with electricity cables that fell because of the storms, the Botswana Power Corporation were not there to normalise the situation. This is very dangerous to lives of these children,' he said. The councillor went on to say that many uprooted trees fell on top of people's houses in his ward. He cited a few houses in Block 2, saying that big trees are still on top of houses.

'I am however pleased with the Block 3 residents as they assisted each other, unlike the others who just stared at the affected people without offering them help,' he said. Councillor Tabengwa Tabengwa of Ikageleng Ward also pointed a finger at the committee saying that he was not satisfied with the assistance that was availed by the Disaster Committee.

'The social welfare had asked me to make a list of people who would need their help but even today the list is still in my hands and no help has been availed to the people,' Tabengwa lamented.

He said the city clerk had long said that assistance was on the way but to no avail. He said that he was also busy removing the trees that fell on his house but said that poor people could not afford to transport the tree branches and trunks to the dumping site. Not only councillors were dissatisfied. Pastor John Ramotshabi joined the councillors. 'This is a rainy season and these kinds of disasters are to be expected. The real question is what the disaster committee did to prepare the city in advance,' Ramotshabi said.

He said the Disaster Committee does not cover the whole city. 'It should extend to ward level where the people can get assistance closer to them. Many people were not assisted because they were unable to contact the committee,' he concluded. Pastor Master Matlhaope questioned the preparedness of the Disaster Committee.

There should have been a forecast and people cautioned beforehand,' he said.

He said that people could have been long advised to build houses that are strong enough and avoid shacks.

Francistown Mayor, Shadreck Nyeku, said that it was appropriate that after such a disaster, all the stakeholders should listen to a report of the committee and contribute ideas on how best to handle a similar situation in the future.

The Francistown Council Secretary, Mathews Sebina, who is also a member of the Disaster Committee said that his committee inspected the town to assess the destruction as well as identify those who needed relief.

'Our findings saw around 98 houses being affected.  Thirty eight families needed tents, while 46 families needed food baskets,' Sebina revealed.

Vice-President Mompati Merafhe according to Sebina, made a whistle stop visit to Francistown on Sunday and took a tour of the city. Sebina added that Building Materials Suppliers, which is part of the World Group Of Companies has offered enough food baskets for all the victims in need of food.