Africa-Press – Botswana. Oodi residents have called for the repair of underground water pipes that they suspect to be causing water springs in different parts of their village.
In a kgotla meeting addressed by Mochudi East Member of Parliament, Mr Mabuse Pule on Tuesday, residents complained that their village had become a harbour for stray animals that flocked the springs for drinking water.
They said the leakages had remained unattended for the longest time, making the village unsightly.
Residents also complained about the delayed land allocations and the tedious process of changing land ownership and land use.
They said land allocations had been ceased since 2006 and they also requested streetlights in their village and neighbouring settlements at Kgalapitse and Mmadikota.
They also called for the upgrading of one of the clinics to be a referral clinic with improved staff complement to improve service delivery.
Residents also called for the expansion of Oodima Junior Secondary School to become a unified school as their children were admitted at Molefhi Senior Secondary School in Mochudi where they had no accommodation.
When welcoming residents, Kgosi Masego Semele of Oodi implored residents to clean up their surroundings and make it a habit to pay the council for litter collection.
Kgosi Semele said he was worried that the village had become unsightly as the streets had been left to the council litter pickers.
“It is worrying that some people have resorted to staying in filthy surroundings,” he lamented.
Kgosi Semele also asked the residents to think about the naming of the impending new primary school in Oodi, currently under construction.
He also implored residents to turn up for national voter registration exercise in large numbers.
Mr Pule, who is also the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, briefed residents about some of the bills that were passed during the last Parliament session.
Among those, he said was the Persons with Disabilities Bill that is intended to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
He said the convention sought to protect, promote and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.
He encouraged residents not to discriminate people with disabilities and that the Bill makes it an offence to victimise or incite another to discriminate against a person with a disability.
Mr Pule sad Parliament also passed the Income Tax Amendment Bill with the introduction of tax-free threshold.
He also informed the residents that due to severe arable agricultural drought year throughout the country, subsidy feed for livestock had been extended from February to end on June.
Mr Pule also implored residents to shun gender-based violence and to fight it at all costs.
Meanwhile, Water Utilities Corporation Mochudi Service Centre representative, Mr Modise Lopang informed residents that the leakages maybe due to aged underground water pipes.
He promised residents that a full report would be availed to them about the leakages after a thorough investigation.
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