{"id":31548,"date":"2023-07-19T10:13:42","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T10:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect"},"modified":"2023-07-19T10:13:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T10:13:42","slug":"qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect","title":{"rendered":"Qacha\u2019s Nek residents complain of neglect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>AN indaba that was meant to discuss the 2023\/24 national budget in Qacha\u2019s Nek on Monday turned into a \u201cshouting match\u201d with residents accusing Ministry of Finance officials of neglect.<\/p>\n

The officials were in town to explain the contents of the budget and how it will benefit the people when they came under attack. The meeting was for district chiefs, local government councillors, and the public.<\/p>\n

The residents\u2019 main gripe was what they alleged was the government\u2019s focus on the nine other districts at the expense of Qacha\u2019s Nek. They complained that Finance Minister Dr Rets\u030celisitsoe Matlanyane did not even mention any place marked for development in the district during her budget speech in parliament.<\/p>\n

One of the complainants, Thabang Letele, from Tsoelike, said billions of maloti were allocated to other districts to build roads and bridges and even for electrical installations but nothing was allocated for Qacha\u2019s Nek.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, the people of Qacha\u2019s Nek, were only shocked after the budget was tabled in parliament that we were allocated zero percent,\u201d Letele said.<\/p>\n

Letele said the Finance Ministry is fully aware that residents have to sometimes cross the overflowing Senqu River to access health services in Tebellong.<\/p>\n

Earlier last year the bridge that connects Tebellong Hospital, schools, some shops with the community collapsed. The hospital is on the other side of the Senqu River and some shops and other essential services too.<\/p>\n

There are two hospitals in the district, Tebellong Hospital that serves mostly rural people on both sides of the river and Machabeng Hospital, which is situated in town.<\/p>\n

Some people in the district, apart from having to cross the raging Senqu River during rainy seasons to access services, have to travel about 100 kilometres on gravel roads. Some have to travel on horseback while others on foot, often having to find sleeping accommodations on the way.<\/p>\n

Letele\u2019s argument was that if Qacha\u2019s Nek was also allocated money like other districts, \u201cwe would maybe be able to build that bridge and be able to go to Tebellong Hospital\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also pointed out that even other bridges for small rivers were washed away during rainy days last year and \u201cthose bridges need to be rebuilt\u201d. \u201cSo, how will those damaged bridges be maintained if the district has not been allocated even a cent?\u201d Letele asked.<\/p>\n

Another concerned resident, \u2019Maamohelang Ramots\u030coane, said the main issues that people always complain about are lack of roads and electricity. \u201cSo if now we have not been given money, what else will the district do about these issues,\u201d Ramots\u030coane said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the main tarred road we have needs to be maintained. If there is no money for the district we will fail to maintain the road,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not happy and we are not satisfied,\u201d she said, adding that Qacha\u2019s Nek has been neglected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to improve this district and the lives of the people living in it.
\nMotsamai Ramasipha, another resident, dared the Finance Ministry officials to point out in the budget any funds that were allocated for developmental projects in Qacha\u2019s Nek.<\/p>\n

He said it is a well-known fact that the district is grappling with lack of electricity but the government is silent on how it plans to solve the problem. Residents of Qacha\u2019s Nek town are feeling the brunt of load shedding happening is South Africa.<\/p>\n

The residents complain that their electronic appliances are destroyed because of regular power cuts and \u201cthe government is unresponsive to our cries of help\u201d.<\/p>\n

The LEC spent about M11.6 million to buy two standby generators, one for Qacha\u2019s Nek and another for Mokhotlong district, which suffers the same. Qacha\u2019s Nek and Mokhotlong districts get power directly from South Africa\u2019s Eskom and so when there is load shedding across the border, they also suffer.<\/p>\n

The rest of Lesotho gets electricity from the \u2019Muela Hydro-Power Station. The Qacha\u2019s Nek residents said their electronic appliances such as fridges and televisions are getting destroyed every time there is load shedding, which happens almost every day, especially in this winter.<\/p>\n

Ramasipha said things would be better if electricity was not from South Africa. \u201cNow we are begging power from South Africa as if we cannot generate electricity from Lesotho,\u201d Ramasipha said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are suffering, this electricity from South Africa can disappear for a week, and that also causes other people to lose their properties due to load-shedding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Qacha was also allocated money like other districts, we would not cry this much.<\/p>\n

The finance controller in the Ministry of Finance, Maleshoane Lekomola, said Qacha\u2019s Nek \u201chas not been discriminated because, it has been allocated money for the construction of a bus stop\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, the road from Mpiti to Sehlabathe is being built and it is going to be completed soon,\u201d Lekomola said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means you are not forgotten,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. AN indaba that was meant to discuss the 2023\/24 national budget in Qacha\u2019s Nek on Monday turned into a \u201cshouting match\u201d with residents accusing Ministry of Finance officials of neglect. The officials were in town to explain the contents of the budget and how it will benefit the people when they came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,246,245,507],"class_list":["post-31548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-national"],"yoast_head":"\nQacha\u2019s Nek residents complain of neglect - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Qacha\u2019s Nek residents complain of neglect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Lesotho. AN indaba that was meant to discuss the 2023\/24 national budget in Qacha\u2019s Nek on Monday turned into a \u201cshouting match\u201d with residents accusing Ministry of Finance officials of neglect. The officials were in town to explain the contents of the budget and how it will benefit the people when they came […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-19T10:13:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Qacha\u2019s Nek residents complain of neglect\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-19T10:13:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect\"},\"wordCount\":839,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/07\/sm_1689750188.227422.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"national\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/qachas-nek-residents-complain-of-neglect\",\"name\":\"Qacha\u2019s Nek residents complain of neglect - 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