Transcript BALA/ ICLD MUNICIPAL PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAMME

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Ghanzi District Council is faced with a
mammoth task of developing its communities
as poverty is widespread in the whole District.
This therefore means a lot of resources need
to be inclined towards the community or
efforts that will later have trickling down
benefits to the community.
Therefore a partnership with the Swedish
Municipalities is a great opportunity to realize
our people centered efforts.
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Ghanzi District is located in the Western
Region of the country. The Western region
itself is located in the south and west of
Botswana from 21°S to 27°S and 20°E to 25°E,
and covers an area of approximately 221,579
km².
The region is bordered by
 Ngamiland District in the north,
 Central District in the east,
 Kweneng and Southern Districts in the
southeast,
 Namibia in the west and South Africa in the
South.
 This Western region is composed of Ghanzi
and Kgalagadi Districts
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The District has only one Sub District;
Charleshill, and it stretches from
Chobokwane to Metsimantsho, covering
Chobokwane, Tsootsha, Karakubis, New
Xanagas, Charleshill, Makunda, Kole, Ncojane
and Metsimantsho
DEMOGRAPHICS
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Estimated population of Ghanzi District
according to the 2001 population census is
32 481.
The population is twisted towards males with
16 564 males and 15 917 females.
COUNCIL VISION
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To provide people centred infrastructure,
integrated social services and economic
empowerment programs for improved quality of
life.
COUNCIL MISSION
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To be a lead Council in the provision of basic
infrastructure and social services for improved
quality of life of the community.
MANDATE
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Gantsi District Council is mandated to provide
infrastructure, social services and economic
development through planned programmes and
projects.
Council’s responsibility therefore includes public
health, primary education, water services, roads,
programmes designed for Remote Area Dwellers
(RADS), destitute programs etc.
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Ghanzi District is situated en-route of the
Trans-Kalahari road, 700km from capital city
Gaborone squeezed between Kgalagadi
District and the North West District.
It is a gateway to tourism centres like North
West and the Chobe regions.
Ghanzi District is home to the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve as one of the largest
game reserve in Botswana endowed with
assorted wildlife and plant species.
Predators like lion, hyena, spotted wild dogs
are residents of this magnificent eco system.
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Intercultural communication is common in
this place because of diverse ethnicity tribes
of ;
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Basarwa,
Bakgalagadi
Baherero and
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Afrikaaners
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Cattle rearing is the economic spine of this
region and contributes to the diversification
of the economy from mining to the
agricultural sector.
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The economy in Ghanzi Township is still open
as it is still growing.
There are opportunities which can benefit
the people to establish their businesses with
less competition and access of raw materials.
Through cattle rearing, opportunities in beef
industry are still available.
The current bus rank was developed without
wet stalls as the project was scaled down but
there is a high demand for market stalls to
cater for the informal sector
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However profits will be realized by utilization
of the existing space for other activities such
as advertisements, rallies, public events etc
Developments within the township include the
following though not limited to;
 tarred internal roads,
 telecommunication system in place,
 supply of potable water,
 connection into sewerage system and
electrification of households and street lights.
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Private Organizations and Non Governmental
Organizations’ (NGO’s) are rendering services
to the public just like in well developed towns
and cities.
In settlements, we have NGO’s (Kuru and
Permaculture) which are currently engaged in
community projects for the under privileged
which have created jobs for the
communities.
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Accommodation for visitors and tourists can
be arranged from a hotel,lodges,guest
houses and camping sites with good facilities.
All these can accommodate approximately
279 people.
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Flaunting an atmosphere of compatible
weather seasonally; Ghanzi District
experiences very hot weather during summer
and
cold winters with short hours during the day
and long hours in the nights respectively
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Ghanzi District offers a wide selection of
attractions, the absolute variety of which will
motivate and delight visitors.
These include the wildlife, Kuru dance and
the ‘Mogwaafatshe’ house commonly used by
the Basarwa from the ancient years.
These temporary structures can be found in
Kuke,a settlement along the Ghanzi –
Sehithwa road.
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Ghanzi District Council has managed to
execute various developmental projects and
programmes ranging from;
water reticulation and desalination projects,
RADS farms,
electrification of public facilities, and
destitute rehabilitation.
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bus rank,
tarring of internal roads,
Clinics,
RADS hostels and
Council chamber which houses 34
Councillors, 15 Media personnel, 15 Public
members and 20 Heads of Departments
Abattoir
 Ghanzi District is a major supplier of cattle at
Botswana Meat Commission which are approximately
637 km apart.
 The District lacks an abattoir which the Council has
proposed and it has been approved.
 Unfortunately, because of global recession the
Council went as far as designing and is still awaiting
funding to proceed with construction. This will
benefit the community of Ghanzi District which has
been longing for this development through the
employment of locals, which by so doing would
improve their standard of living.
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The Council is also mandated in community
development projects ,and strategies are
being developed to sustain these.
Thus, another area in which the Council
would like to partner in as to develop the
community of Ghanzi District effectively.
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Some projects already taking place are small
scale backyard industries like: bakeries,
sewing, bead work, poultry and arts &
painting. Some intended projects are:
Gardening and orchards, Curio shops, and
cultural villages. These need technicalities as
the beneficiaries in this District are still being
nurtured to sustain themselves. It is a
challenge as some intend to abandon these
projects
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Currently plots in Ghanzi Township are being
allocated in unserviced land due to lack of
funding for land servicing even though there
is a high demand for land.
Ghanzi has a high water table hence
developing plots without the sanitation
infrastructure would possibly lead to
underground water pollution. Therefore we
request assistance in land servicing.
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This is one of the challenges facing the
District
Especially in the Township
Efforts to address this problem through the
Land Use Planning Committee (relocation to
neighboring settlements)have proved futile.
Reality: A lot of squatters(indigent) have no
permanent residence as they are from the
surrounding farms, even though others are
from different areas within Botswana.
This is one area we would like to partner on.
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There is a high demand for land in most of
our settlements;
however there are no development plans to
guide the land use to enable sustainable use
of land.
This is mainly due to shortage of funds for
the preparation of such development plans.
This forms one of the areas of incorporation.
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Kuke Development plan is being done
inhouse
Other areas have not being covered due to
shortage of funds
Consultation for Kuke
settlement plan
Sports & Recreation in the District
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Open spaces for recreation have been
reserved for recreational purposes.
However, almost all of them are not used
because they are not developed.
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The recreational facilities can assist the youth
in engaging in non-alcohol / drug related
activities and even assist in the fight against
crime since they will be kept off the streets
and into something more productive since
sporting can now be taken as a career
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Expansion of revenue services
The Local Authorities revenue is very minimal
and only contributes 10% or less to its budget
and 90% or more comes from Government,
The issue here is for the Local Authorities to
find ways of generating more income that
would at least contribute 50% of its revenue.
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Council has identified possible areas of
revenue generation which includes;
Truck Inn-Council to acquire and develop an
open space for overnight truck parking and
rest.
Property development-council will develop
properties such as staff houses at Kuke and a
shopping center in the township for
rental/lease
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Extension of property rates to the districtProperties to be valued and rated
More areas of partnerships are still to be
explored as the District is abundant with
opportunities!
Thank You!!!!!!