Africa-Press – Botswana. North East District Council (NEDC) Chairman, Mr Kudzani Tobokwani, says there is a disturbing statistic of cases involving crimes against children.
Addressing NEDC Full Council on Monday, he said this year such cases included defilement (85 cases), children in conflict with the law (10), as well as children in need of protection due to neglect, abuse and abandonment (31).
“This state of affairs cannot be condoned,” he warned.
Mr Tobokwani stated that all councillors and stakeholders should come together to address the issue.
He commended the district for resuscitation of Child Protection Committees, saying the development came at an appropriate time to help children in need of child protection.
He also said applications for the Youth Development Fund (YDF) for the financial year 2023/24 saw a decline in the number of proposals submitted notwithstanding the longer submission window and extension of the closing date.
He said the number of applications received stood at 143 as opposed to 204 received last year and noted that proposals have been appraised and adjudicated after which procurement would commence.
Mr Tobokwani regretted that though the council had planned to conduct refresher training for all Village Development Committees (VDCs) during the current financial year, this could not materialise due to budgetary constraints.
“A one-day orientation was conducted for four VDCs of Mulambakwena, Masunga, Letsholathebe and Vukwi,” he said.
Mr Tobokwani indicated that the council was experiencing a high turnover number of VDC members due to assortment of reasons thus affecting the smooth running of the committees.
He stated that waste management remained a challenge in the district due to people’s attitude and perceptions regarding waste management matters.
He stated that the main challenge encountered was illegal dumping of waste deposited in the periphery of the villages thus, defeating the council’s effort to keep the district clean.
He undertook that regardless of the widespread illegal dumping of waste, the council through its environmental health department would continue to conduct clean-up campaigns around the district.
Mr Tobokwani told the council that in regard to Foot and Mouth Disease control in Zone 6B, all calves below the weight of 200kg have all been sold out through an auction at Pandamatenga in the Chobe District.
He warned that any citing of cattle in the zone would be an incursion and they would be immediately destroyed, adding that intensive surveillance would continue until the zone regained its green status.
On the other hand, he said, the livestock condition in the district had significantly deteriorated and there was need for farmers to do supplementary feeding of their livestock.
He advised farmers to take advantage of the 30 percent livestock subsidy to buy supplementary feed.
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