Africa-Press – Botswana. The draft route map for the 2023 Toyota 1000 Desert Race, scheduled for Jwaneng from June 23 to 25, has been completed.
Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) marketing manager, Thabang Segaetsho, however, told Jwaneng councillors in his presentation to the Jwaneng Town Council meeting on Wednesday that ‘the route map is a sensitive issue which is determined by the regulations governing the Motor Sport. It is usually shared a week or two before the event’.
Further, he noted that in an endeavour to empower local businesses and communities, most of the support services were privatised.
“This year we do not have a fuel title sponsor, and this will provide a big opportunity to local fuel stations.
Majority of the racing vehicles use a special kind of fuel, therefore all riders and everyone will be sourcing their fuel from the filling stations leading to Jwaneng and in Jwaneng,” he said.
He also said seven property owners had acceded their call of interest to turn their spaces into temporary campsites for the spectators.
This, he noted, was intended to promote community beneficiation and value chain exploitation for the residents and those in the peripheries.
However, he said they discouraged people from turning the campsites into entertainment areas to avoid any illegal activities that could tarnish the image of the event.
He said consultations with the Jwaneng business community and Southern Beef Farmers Association were ongoing, to discuss how local businesses could position themselves to maximise their benefit from the event, and also how farmers could protect their livestock and properties during the race.
Additionally, Segaetsho said community consultations for kgotla meetings in surrounding villages such as Sese, Mokhomma, Tsonyane, Lefoko, Samane and Betesankwe were scheduled to commence on Monday.
“In addition to engaging on how communities can benefit from the race, we also use these kgotla meetings to share information on how they could protect themselves from criminals and other social ills that come with an influx of people in the area,” he said.
Regarding the pre-race music festival, he said even though BTO was at the forefront of driving the overall event, they collaborated with the local sub-committees and other stakeholders to mitigate congestion at the venue.
He also noted that they had their best to improve the terms of reference for the festival to ensure that the organiser also had a part to play in terms of logistics and management of the crowd.
For her part, Jwaneng mayor, Olga Ditsie appealed to all stakeholders to work together and share resources for the event to be a success.
She noted that the TDR was an international even, which did not only reflect on Jwaneng as a district, but the whole country.
She further suggested that people should be allowed to freely set up their small businesses provided their safety was not compromised and that they did not obstruct traffic.
“We have had challenges with licensing for the informal sector, and this ended up deviating the focus of our police officers who are supposed to be concentrating on critical security issues,” she said.
The town clerk, Ogaufi Molelo said the procuring process for street lighting material was ongoing to address the issue of dark streets.
She further noted that they would collaborate with other departments to clear some bushes since there was a lot of overgrowth around the township.
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