North West District Council (NWDC) chairman, Itumeleng Kelebetseng has challenged both councillors and different government departments in his jurisdiction to improve on service delivery.
Closing the first full council meeting of the new political term this week, the chairman has warned the newly sworn in councillors and the departments that 2025 cannot be business as usual, calling on them to up their game.
Having been re-elected as the NWDC chairman for the second term, Kelebetseng who is also Boseja-South councillor complained about the performance of some of council and central departments including those of roads, education and water.
The chairman noted that often times the departments are not being responsive enough but instead allow for things to worsen especially with regards to maintenance of infrastructure.
“We cannot be seen by the public as council to be fixing potholes only when it’s raining and they are already filled with water. Let’s act on time, “said the chairman further highlighting frequent delays in bush clearings along the roads as well as maintenance of roads and schools’ buildings.
He further expressed concerned that though the Maun’s main bus rank has remained dark for a long time with no working street lights, no action has since been taken.
Furthermore, Kelebetseng revealed that as schools recently resumed, they have prior that visited some of the schools in the district only for them to find what he described as a horrible condition with dilapidated infrastructure that rendered them not conducive for learning.
Kelebetseng is not happy that in every council meeting, councillors always raise concerns they have long brought before council but remained unresolved, either to do with shortage of water or deplorable state of roads among other problems. This he reiterated shows departments’ failure to attend to issues well on time.
“We know that the country is faced with financial problems but let’s try by all means to adequately respond to issues that needs our attention,” Kelebetseng urged.
He also advised councillors as representatives of the people that it is their responsibility to go to different government departments and make enquiries on behalf of their communities instead of waiting for full councils to raise those issues.
Meanwhile, members of the public were also not spared from chairman’s scolding as he also complained about the unpleasant state Maun is in. “livestock comprising of cattle, dogs and pigs are roaming the street because they are not well taken care of by their owners,” he highlighted.
Kelebetseng further complained about some farmers failing to manage their poultry houses noting that there are always complains from neighbourhoods about the bad smell emanating from them. “Maun is planned to be transformed into a green city so these cannot be tolerated,” he concluded.
