11 Dec 2024

It is the desire of government that residential land should be serviced prior to allocation, but financial constraints may force allocations before servicing.

This was indicated by Minister of Water and Human Settlement, Mr Onneetse Ramogapi in Parliament on Tuesday.

Responding to the State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), Mr Ramogapi, who is also the legislator for Palapye said that this was because government was committed to allocating residential plots to as many people as possible without much delay.

“People, especially youth have been in dire need of land for years, and as the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) we are committed to correcting that,” he said.

Mr Ramogapi said that the ministry was also in the process of fulfilling other pledges such as the reduction of water tariffs, by 30 per cent in the first 100 days.

This, he said would help the less privileged people struggling to pay their water bills. He said that other pledges such as construction of 100 000 affordable housing units were also still alive. Mr Ramogapi also requested government to construct the long awaited hospital in Palapye, as well as arrest escalating crime in the constituency, especially stock theft.

For his part, Molepolole South MP, Mr Shima Monageng said the election of a new government signaled a new chapter and brought prospects of new opportunities for growth and development.

Mr Monageng presented himself as the right representative for Molepolole since he knew firsthand challenges of the village such as water scarcity and poverty.

He complained that part of the challenges were a result of years of neglect by the past administration, and urged the new government to find solutions and restore dignity.

“Water scarcity has been discussed for long with ground breakings for water infrastructure projects, yet little has been done. This calls for a forensic audit to investigate the water tenders,” he said.

He therefore, pleaded with government to prioritise the completion of water infrastructure projects in Molepolole.

Mr Monageng said that water scarcity affected the agricultural sector therefore, self sustenance and social economic growth.

Apart from stunting the growth of the village, Mr Monageng said that such shortage also hits essential areas such as hospitals, tertiary institutions and schools.

Mr Monageng said that Molepolole also faced shortage of land and had had zero target for land allocation for the past two financial years.

He said the landboard reported that only 963 plots were submitted for examination to the department of surveys and mapping, a figure that was grossly inadequate to address the housing and development needs of the village.

“This is a serious issue that speaks to the neglect and marginalisation of our community,” he said and pleaded with the responsible ministry to prioritise allocation of residential plots and address the backlog.

Mr Monageng requested for other development projects in the village such as alternative roads, particularly the long promised bypass to decongest the main one.

He said that the current police station was inadequate.

The MP also called for establishment of training programmes and vocational centres as well as support to artists through the establish of creative hubs, start-up grants, mentorship programmes and arts festivals among others. Ends