MP briefs residents on issues

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Friday September 17, 2010 00:00

During a kgotla meeting addressed by the MP for Gaborone South, Kagiso Molatlhegi on Wednesday, residents told the legislator that they have been facing water shortages for some time.

They said most of the taps are dry most of the time and that as a result, they are forced to queue for water early in the morning.

In response, the acting Gaborone City Clerk, Lebuile Israel, said the water shortage was caused by the ongoing upgrading project in Old Naledi which has affected some of the stand pipes. Israel said after the upgrading project has been completed, people will have water piped into their yards.

Old Naledi is undergoing a multi-million Pula upgrading to erect sewerage pipes and tar the roads, among others.

Briefing the residents, Molatlhegi said the upgrading project was behind schedule because some of the residents did not cooperate with the design company.

On other issues affecting them, one of the residents complained about shebeens playing loud music in Old Naledi.  He said the police in Old Naledi do not seem to be doing their job to fight crime.

Another resident, Richard Mokgethi, decried the increasing of fees for draining a toilet from P20 to P150, saying it should have at least been increased to P50.

The Acting City Clerk said the council spends more than P1,000 draining one toilet.

Israel said initially, the council had wanted to raise the fee to P300 but the residents pleaded that it should at least be P150.

Another resident wanted to know when the minimum hourly rate for workers in the private sector would be increased. The MP advised workers to join trade unions so that they could have bargaining power.

Addressing the residents, Molatlhegi said one of the changes in Old Naledi is that the township has become spotlessly clean. Molatlhegi called on Old Naledi residents to utilise government programmes to empower themselves.

He spoke about the agricultural programmes that are available, saying they could access the programmes from the rural areas. Molatlhegi said even if they are staying in Old Naledi, they could still own livestock in the rural areas.

The MP further suggested that the Ipelegeng programme in Old Naledi should embark on sustainable projects. This could include building Village Development Committee (VDC) houses or upgrading community halls.

Molatlhegi also briefed the residents about the issues discussed at the last parliamentary session. He said one of the policy documents submitted to MPs was the National Alcohol Policy, though he said MPs had not discussed the policy yet.

Molatlhegi said the government is also looking at banning the sale of illegal brews from homes because the illegal brews have killed a lot of people, adding that some of the brews were laced with harmful products like battery acid.

Molatlhegi invited input from the residents regarding the banning of illegal brews. He said according to the proposal, even Chibuku will only be sold from licensed depots.

He also briefed residents about the new land board regulations in which board members are no longer going to be elected. The MP revealed that during the last parliamentary session, the Employment Act was amended.

He said the amendment means employees will be paid severance packages when they leave the company before five years. 

In the past, employees were only entitled to severance packages after working for five years. But Molatlhegi said some unscrupulous employers always fired their employees before they reached the five-year term so that they could not claim severance pay. The MP told the residents that even if one has worked for one year, he/she would still be entitled to severance pay.

Another amendment that has been made to the Employment Act was that of increasing sick leave from 14 days to 20 days a year. Yet another is regarding maternity leave so that affected employees will be entitled to 50 percent pay instead of the 25 percent that was paid in the past.

However, the MP said this country was below the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommended rate of 75 percent pay for maternity leave.Another law that was amended wa

 the Interpretation Act. Molatlhegi said the age of majority has been decreased from 21 to 18 years.