Over P19 m set aside for Ipelegeng in Gaborone

Funds amounting to P19, 685 550.00 have been allocated the Gaborone District for  the financial year 2015/16 to implement   140 Ipelegeng projects in five constituencies of Gaborone. The amount is  a slight decrease from last year’s  P20 397 000, which was initially at P18, 717,000.00 but later increased following an  increase in beneficiaries’ allowances and sustenance fee to P30.00 and P7.00 respectively.  60 percent of the budget has since been released and so far, P3,161,696.56  has already been spent.

 
Addressing councilors  during the ongoing  full council  meeting on Monday, Gaborone Mayor, Kagiso Thutlwe said three  projects from National Museum and Monuments  have since been added to the list, bringing the total number of projects to 143.  According to the  Mayor , of the 140 projects planned under the current budget, 121 have already started  and their completion rates  range between  1 and 25 per cent while 19, which are mainly maintenance and paving works, have not yet commenced.

 
Meanwhile, speaking about social safety nets, Thutlwe highlighted  that 1725 beneficiaries  are currently assisted under  the different  nets, an increase  of 4.7 per cent from 1648 in the first quarter. 167 persons have been registered as destitutes,   1059 orphaned children, 417 needy students,  47  children in need of care and 35 community based care patients.   Thutlwe said  compared to the previous quarters, there has been a 24.5  per cent  increase in the number of  needy students  and  51.6 per cent increase  in children in need of care. The increase, he said, is a result of the number of graduating orphans  whose care givers do not have adequate means to support them as well as the number of children living with disabilities who need assistance through social safety nets.
From March to May 2015,  305 civil and child  welfare cases  were reported and attended to, 68 per cent were cases  reflecting ills committed against and by children and majority of  the clientele    were females. “Civil cases for this quarter amounted to 144, constituting 32 per cent of all cases,” Thutlwe explained. He encouraged councillors to work together to uphold the moral fabric of   society and become better role models. “Our society is on a down ward spiral as the family structures are crumbling,” he warned.