21 Aug 2024

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Honourable Talita Monnakgotla, has told Parliament that results of the analysis on clay deposits in Kokong to determine if they can be used to products bricks would be released by the end of the third quarter of the financial year or December 31.  

Answering a question in Parliament on August 16, Honourable Monnakgotla said Mabutsane District Council had engaged Botswana Geo-Science Institute to make the analysis.

Meanwhile, Assistant Minister Monnakgotla said eight projects had been planned for the rural settlements in the Jwaneng-Mabutsane constituency and they included spot improvement along Thankane-Samane Road, Mokhomma-Thanakane Road, borehole equipping and reticulation at Kanaku.

In addition, Ms Monnakgotla said another project was for the design and construction of Mabutsane internal roads under the Transitional National Development Plan.

She said the project was implemented through the development manager model and was currently at design stage.

She also indicated that the projects were implemented in compliance with national and international standards of construction to ensure reliable and sustainable infrastructure and most importantly value for money.

“My ministry through the district council continuously maintains this infrastructure through in-house crew or outsourcing when funds permit,” she said.

She further said another six projects that were planned for the RADP settlements and undertaken through Constituency Community Projects as well as primary schools backlog programme included construction of pre-school complete with play equipment as well as water supply reticulation Phase I and II at Itholoke and Thankane.

Other projects, she said included construction of day care centre at Kanaku, construction of classroom block and outdoor equipment at Kutuku and Thankane respectively.

Ms Monnakgotla said from 2019 to date, four education and four water projects had been undertaken.

On the provision of electricity, Ms Monnakgotla said all villages in the district had access to electricity except Kanaku, Mahotshwane and Thankane.

She said development projects were enablers of economic development in settlements as they created jobs during and after construction.

“If budgeted for, the ministry ensures that such projects are constructed according to the existing construction and building standards,” she said.

She said the district was embarking on development of Local Economic Development (LED) strategy, which would help to identify the resources that could be processed and converted into finished products and creating jobs.

“The community has been sensitised on what LED is in April in the 17 villages, except Mabutsane and Tsonyane. During the meetings, the communities identified the resources at their disposal. The resources are yet to be mapped to determine their commercial viability,” she said.

Member of Parliament of Jwaneng-Mabutsane, Mr Mephato Reatile has asked the minister if there were any infrastructure projects planned or ongoing in the rural settlements in the constituency to improve road connectivity, access to clean water and electricity services.

Mr Reatile also wanted to establish how the ministry was ensuring that the rural settlements in the constituency had reliable and sustainable infrastructure to support economic development and better living conditions.

He also wanted to establish if there were any infrastructure projects planned or ongoing in each of the Rural Area Development Programme (RADP) settlements in the constituency to improve road connectivity, education access, clean water and electricity services.

He again, wanted to establish the number of water, education and electricity projects that had been executed for each settlement from 2019 to date.

The legislator also wanted to know how the ministry was ensuring the development of reliable and sustainable infrastructure in the rural settlements to support economic development and better living conditions.

He further wanted to know the initiatives or projects in place to diversify income through the use of indigenous knowledge and resources such as cactus and aloe vera, for creating exportable products or processes including manufacturing units from the plants. Ends