Africa-Press – Botswana. Batswana should consider tapping into solar energy to light up their homes and streets, Gaborone North MP Mr Mpho Balopi told Gaborone North residents when addressing a kgotla meeting in the area on Tuesday.
“We are going the solar way,” the MP told residents who had complained that their area was dark. He advised them to mount solar panels on their rooftops to utilise the abundant sun in Botswana for lighting of homes and the environment.
The MP, who was addressing his eighth consultative meeting in the constituency, said investing on solar energy would save the planet from global warming.
He said the country relied predominantly on coal-driven electric energy, which not only posed a risk to the environment, but was costly to produce. On the other hand solar energy was a cheaper alternative, he said.
Mr Balopi said through the constituency development fund, Phakalane ward would receive 64 solar powered streetlights.
Using solar street lights would save Gaborone City Council money as currently it was paying a lot on monthly electricity bills,
He acknowledged residents’ concerns that some streetlights in Phakalane had not been working for some time.
He told the residents, however, that some of the lights were not connected to the national grid while others were not working due to copper cable theft.
In response to issues raised by residents, the MP told residents that COVID-19 had had devastating socio-economic effects on the wellbeing of Batswana, with mental health cases notably, going up.
The pandemic, he said, also led to a rise in illicit drugs, armed robberies, burglary and house breakings, motor vehicle theft and murder-suicide cases. He advised constituents to be security cautious while also investing in their spiritual health through prayers.
Residents had complained about high usage of drugs in their area, especially marijuana and coccaine, which they said were being sold to their children, and blamed especially foreign national street vendors in Phakalane, whom they said peddled drugs.
Residents also complained about open spaces in their areas as well as deserted houses which they said harboured criminals.
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