Africa-Press – Botswana. Residents of Molepolole have been urged to utilise the Temo Letlotlo programme to uplift their lives and improve food security.
Addressing kgotla meetings in Molepolole recently, the MP for Molepolole South, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said Temo Letlotlo, like other government programmes, was meant to improve living conditions of Batswana.
He also urgedresidents to ignore those who discouraged them from utilising government programmes meant to improve their lives.
MP Morwaeng advised his constituents to be patient with the programme as it was recently launched, adding that teething challenges would be addressed.
Residents, for their part, complained about the requirement to have certificates for their land.
Mr Moreetsi Kgosiang said he could not utilise his inherited ploughing fields because the land board had not yet changed its ownership.
Mr Chaba Baatweng asked for a waiver, saying many farmers had been disadvantaged by the requirement and that the land board was slow to register ploughing plots.
Another resident said tractor owners charged P1 200 instead of the P800 set by government, and that they were not allowed to engage them although they were willing to pay the difference.
He asked what would happen if they failed to pay their loans with the National Development Bank (NDB) due to natural disasters.
Responding to concerns, Mr Onne Monametsi, a crop production officer, said his office would assist those who had received notifications from the land board.
He added that a letter from the land board stating that someone would be officially allocated a ploughing plot would be sufficient.
He also said should farmers fail to produce crops due to natural disasters a report would be made to NDB, and that the farmer would be assisted again the following season.
Meanwhile, residents also complained about water scarcity in the village.
Some complained about leakages and that it took time for them to be attended.
Mr Loapi Seporo from Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) said the Gamononyane-Molepolole water pipeline had been completed, but that the corporation needed to rehabilitate the village water network.
He also said WUC would build a wastewater treatment plant.
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