The taking over by government of certain services from councils by means of directives is becoming a sore point by the day."We are challenged, ladies and gentlemen, by the continuous directives we receive from central government," the Mayor of Gaborone, Haskins Nkaigwa, said when he opened the full council yesterday."Such directives undermine the core principles of democracy as they are done without our consent." The Mayor pointed to the latest directives that ordered water and wastewater services to be taken over by parastatal Water Utilities Corporation (WUC).
"Water Utilities' response to emergencies is very disturbing," he said. "The city is no longer habitable as we have sewerage drains spilling for over two to three days with no response. "This is a cause for concern and we no longer know who to talk to at Water Utilities." Nkaigwa noted that while a directive had stipulated May as the date for the takeover of vacuum tanker services, a subsequent directive had ordered the service to remain with local authorities until October, thus disrupting the council budget.
