Africa-Press – Botswana. Government has developed a well-coordinated structure and an integrated set of activities to respond to impacts of natural disasters.
This was said by Minister for State President, Mr Moeti Mohwasa during a tour of Motshegaletau fissures on Thursday. He said the framework was meant to guide government and communities on how to mainstream disaster risk reduction.
However, he said there was need to enhance the structure to come up with a more comprehensive disaster management programme, which focused on reducing the impact of future disasters and enhance preparedness for any eventualities arising from such disasters.
He spoke of the need to make appropriate decisions when faced with such situations to enhance response and offer relief to households affected by disasters, hence the need to visit affected areas to get first-hand information on the issue at hand.
Furthermore, he advised land board authorities to be considerate about the topography of the area when allocating residential plots to avert a situation that exacerbates flooding, adding such areas where not suitable for allocation.
As for storm water drainage systems, he urged Batswana to desist from dumping debris and other form of waste on infiltration trenches and culverts, noting such a practice aggravated flooding during cloudbursts.
Minister Mohwasa is of the view that raising awareness about potential hazards and how to address them needed collaborative efforts of all Batswana.
Assistant Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Dr Edwin Dikoloti said the visit to affected areas accorded government an opportunity to have first-hand information that would assist in the planning process.
He said geoscientists were on ground to examine fissures, associated risks and were expected to use the findings to come up with a solution.
Dr Dikoloti said relocating affected households would be a costly exercise, thus he urged relevant authorities to make an assessment and survey of an area before undertaking a development to ensure suitability.
Serowe South legislator, Mr Leepetswe Lesedi said the fissures in Motshegaletau were bad and hoped no one would lose life due to the cracks. He said Batswana were expecting a lot from the new administration to find solutions for their daily challenges.
Director of Science Delivery at Botswana Geoscience Institute, Mr Puso Akanyang said in an interview that ground fissuring was caused by a combination of factors such as earth’s physical structure and substance, its history, among other things.
He said chances of having ground fissures were high when there was a plenty of rains,.
He said it was paramount to have an inventory of fissures in the country, to guide in the planning process or when undertaking development projects citing a reinforced engineering system when constructing roads in fissures-prone areas.
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