Francistown: Mayor Godisang Radisigo is unhappy over illegal dumping of waste which persists within the city and its outskirts.
Briefing a full council meeting on Monday he said some people often find opportune time to dump waste instead of disposing it at designated disposal facilities causing environmental pollution and degradation of the city landscape.
“Although we came up with a sound initiative of guarding illegal dumping hotspots, we face challenges such as safety concerns for staff and resource constraints,” he said.
He said it is high that they come up with community driven solutions to curb this scourge. He said councilors, Ward Development Committees (WDC), Dikgosi and the community at large should work together to monitor and report acts of illegal dumping to the Environmental Health Department or Police Services.
In addition he said it is important for everyone to clean their yards and the surroundings, desist from piling waste inside or adjacent to plots, burning of waste and actively participate in monitoring illegal dumping. On disaster preparedness, he said their management team is on high alert to respond accordingly.
“Once again the rain season is upon us coupled with heat waves. This highlights our most prominent risk factors for disasters,” Radisigo said.
He said their ability to respond depends on all departments providing the necessary support and resources as well as full cooperation by the community.
Meanwhile, on construction and maintenance of Primary School facilities Radisigo said they have experienced a lot of delays in implementing projects from 2020/2021 due to the outbreak of COVID-19, high number of appeals and poor performance of contractors. He however said a lot of progress has been realized in project delivery.
“Maintenance of Ikhutseng Primary School Academic Facilities that was awarded in June 2022 is at 95 percent. In addition maintenance of Phathogo and Ikhutseng Primary (Staff houses) have been completed and handed over the 2nd November 2022,” he said.
He further said construction of two LA3 houses for Aerodrome School is at 40 percent completion stage while two LA2 houses are still at award stage. Radisigo said the Pre-School Classroom Block at Satellite Primary School is at 98 percent completion status. He said their priority is to fastrack construction of the new Primary School at Gerald Estates. He explained that the tender of the 25 units of staff housing was re-awarded and the contract will be signed on the 29th of November 2022.
