09 Oct 2024

The launch of new projects poised to positively impact the community in Francistown and beyond forms part of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development’s mandate to provide infrastructure in line with the Economic Recovery Transformation and Recovery Plan, says the local government Assistant Minister, Mr Setlhabelo Modukanele.

He made the remarks on Tuesday in Francistown to mark the premiere of the state-of-the-art new Gerald Estate Primary School, teachers’ accommodation at Aerodrome and Our Lady of the Desert Primary Schools, reception classes at Satellite and Phatsimo Primary Schools, and paved roads and asphalt overlay.

“These projects being launched have core objectives, namely, infrastructure development, enhancing public services, fostering economic growth and promoting environmental sustainability,” he said.

Mr Modukanele said, in particular, that the infrastructure development projects have resulted in improved connectivity and reduced congestion within the city, thereby making commuting easier, attracting new businesses, and creating jobs.

Besides contributing to the realisation of Vision 2036, which envisions a knowledge-based population, assistant minister Modukanele said the facilities also addressed government’s priority on education and human capital development.

Also, he commended the collaboration between the community, the Ward Development Committee, technocrats, and the Private Sector, which he hailed as instrumental in bringing the projects to life.

“Your spirit resonates with the Vision 2036 theme: Achieving Prosperity for All’, he said.

City Mayor Mr Godisang Radisigo echoed Mr Modukanele’s sentiments, saying the remarkable achievements attained in Francistown were the result of hard work, cooperation, and determination by the city’s top brass and political leadership to foster developments.

“Ke mo ketapeleng ya makhanselara ba diphathi tse di farologanyeng tsa sepolotiki mme ga gona ope wa bone o ikileng yare re buwa ka ditlhabololo a nna segogela thoko a re ga re kake ra se dira,” he said adding that the hiatus due to Covid 19 left the city council with little choice to double its efforts to realize developments before the end of the five-year term.

He happily announced that the city has nonetheless achieved a great deal in bringing developments, including street lights, to its populace.

That said, the Mayor decried congestion on the only bitumen-standard road connecting Gerald Estate to the City and the slow pace of allotting residential plots to the people.

Therefore, he asked for funds to upgrade other alternative roads, especially the Gerald Estate-Kgaphamadi route, to bitumen standards to ease traffic flow in and out of Gerald Estate and the Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs to provide land to deal with waiting lists of applications for a residential plot in the city.

Setting the ball rolling earlier, Gerald Estate Court President, Mr Motlatsi Kediseng commended the school’s contractor for doing a sterling job. He, however, complained that despite serviced land, those responsible for allocating it were not coming forward.

He decried that such land, primarily commercial and industrial plots, lay idle.

Town Clerk, Mr Stephen Motlogelwa said the key objectives driving the projects included, among other things, a stronger vision for a smarter and more prosperous future and a testament to improving the community’s livelihoods.

“These buildings will not simply be spaces for education. They will be hubs of creativity where ideas could flourish,” he said. ENDS