Africa-Press – Botswana. Kanye North Member of Parliament has urged public servants to diligently deliver on their mandates.
Speaking during a consultative meeting with Kanye district senior public servants recently, Mr Thapelo Letsholo advised them to start the new year with positive mindsets in order to effectively serve Batswana.
Mr Letsholo said the meeting was meant to get views from different government departments on what needed to be done to best deliver services to the community.
“We have to find priority issues of Kanye district that have to be included in the National Development Plan,” he said.
He highlighted that most of the issues which the district was faced with such as shortage of water, construction of the hospital and the stadium had found permanent solutions.
“Phase one of water project is ongoing, while phase two will commence in April. Construction of the stadium is also ongoing and of the hospital will soon start,” he added.
Regarding livestock theft, he said it was vital for the district and all relevant stakeholders to work together in order to arrest the situation.
Kanye District Council chairperson, Mr Mpho Dithole thanked the MP for consulting senior public servants, noting that they were the ones driving developments hence the need to regularly engage them.
For his part, Sejelo police station commander, Superintendent Mogomotsi Matlapeng highlighted the need to clear the bushy areas around the village as criminals took advantage of them to commit crime.
The other challenge, he said was darkness in some parts of the village where criminals waited for unsuspecting residents and also broke into some properties.
He said for policing to be effective, public involvement was vital hence the need for residents to form groups such as ‘Ntebele ke go lebele’ and farmers’ committees that would work closely with the police.
Ms Bonang Serurubele from the wildlife department indicated that their coverage area was vast and there was shortage of staff and other resources such as vehicles to effectively deliver on their mandate.
She therefore requested for placement of officers at Moshupa and Good Hope, as well as increase of resources.
DHMT chief nursing officer, Ms Margaret Mapiki decried shortage of staff accommodation especially in remote areas, which she said led to officers declining transfers to such areas.
“Most of our officers, even married ones are forced to share accommodation, which some do not agree to,” she added.
She said shortage of staff affected all departments such as transport, maintenance, doctors as well as nurses.
Kanye Adventist Hospital superintendent, Dr Brendan Tombs said shortage of resources such as personnel and vehicles limited them to effectively provide services to residents.
He highlighted the need for Emergency Medical Service noting that sending nurses to emergencies worsened staff shortage.
Kanye District deputy council secretary, Mr Joseph Banyatsang said shortage of resources especially vehicles, limited them in carrying out their duties such as monitoring of ongoing projects.
“Limited budget also affect our service delivery as most of it goes to staff,” he said.
He also highlighted the need for a proper fire station, noting that with developments such as hospitals, such a department was vital.
Most of departments representatives in attendance decried shortage of resources.
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