Maun, a village regarded as the country’s tourism capital has however been regrettably described by the North West District councillors as dark and dirty, a state which they lament is not the most enticing for tourists.
The councillors complained about the current untidy and dim state Maun finds itself in, calling for urgent interventions to ensure that the village which attracts numbers of tourists is lightened up and kept clean.
The village, they opined, is in a horrible state with some coming up with suggestions for the reintroduction of the green scorpions programmes where people were engaged to enforce environmental laws as well as the use of solar street lights.
“Maun is so dirty, the other time I went to the bus rank and was shocked by the untidiness there and vendors selling food around there seemed fine with the situation. We should reintroduce the green scorpions to help address the situation,” said Lerayamang Baswi, Councillor for Thito-Bombadi.
Baswi complained that companies engaged for litter picking, waste collection and disposal are failing their job, despite the large payments they get from council.
He also urged the NWDC’s by-law department to crack the whip on unhygienic food outlets and retailers to ensure that they comply with set food safety standards. “Our shops are very dirty especially those selling food, just like the Gaborone City Council does, NWDC should also conduct through inspection to see if there is compliance.”
Jeffry Mosamarea, Boseja North Councillor stressed the dirty state of Maun highlighting Matshwane Ward as an eyesore to the arriving tourists, while Specially Nominated Councillor, Mosalasuping Dimbo emphasised the need to have patrolling teams employed to curb littering within and around the village.
As for the darkness, the councillors were unanimous in their assertion that this has led to increased criminal activity in Maun. They suggested that as darkness is caused by cable theft and vandalism, council should instead replace electric street lights with those using solar.
Opening the full council meeting this week, deputy chairperson, Vepaune Moreti told councillors that the notion that Maun is dirty reflects badly on them, as members of the community and as leaders in failing to keep the environment to its natural beautiful state.
“Council is currently evaluating 24 waste tenders for litter picking, waste collection and disposal for possible award under the 2025/26 financial year. This is intended to ensure that every settlement/ village receives waste collection service,” he revealed.
The chairman added that the Council has also procured a skip truck which should assist Maun community to desist from burning garden waste by disposing it on their behalf. He also reminded the public to use the landfill as it is a public facility noting that some of the waste that is deposited in and around outskirts is recyclable or reusable material which has value.
The chairperson also touched on the dark state of Maun village noting that most of the street lights are down owing to vandalism and theft.
“To this day, our streetlights performance continues to depreciate owing largely to motorists ramming on the upright poles and fittings. In most cases, the culprits are never caught or apprehended to account for their deeds. The acts of vandalism and theft normally occur at night thus posing a problem of monitoring.”
“Another growing concern is that of cable theft more especially of the underground cables connecting the grid tied streetlights. To date, the culprits remain evasive and this sadly promotes the growing incidence of cable theft and consequently the sprawling night darkness in our streets.”
Despite these setbacks, Moreti revealed that the Council is working around the clock to restore the lights through a works tender to fix 90 vandalised streetlights in Maun. In addition, 65 solar streetlights will be installed in various places in Maun this financial year, with 30 light fittings earmarked to replace defective ones.
