BOTSWANA POLICE RECEIVES 14 NEWS HOUSES IN TSABONG

Last week Thursday the Minister of Defence Justice and Security, Honourable Thomas Kagiso Mmusi officially opened the 14 housing units for Tsabong Police Staff. The Houses which were built at a total cost of P12.4 Million were constructed under the supervision of the Botswana Housing Corporation’s Professional Management Unit.

Speaking at the official handover ceremony, the Minister said that the delivery of infrastructure and housing developments is key to economic, social and community development. “Staff housing in particular improves employee morale and motivation and by extension performance output. I therefore, wish to thank Botswana Housing Corporation for selflessly driving this important national commitment.” he said.

Honourable Mmusi emphasized that the provision of staff houses to members of the Botswana Police Service remains a top priority for his Ministry, adding that he will continue to advocate for the construction of additional and suitable institutional houses to accommodate police officers nationally. The Minister lamented the current number of houses in Tsabong, which he said are not adequate. He was however quick to add that the 14 additional units that were being handed over on the day will go a long way in alleviating the accommodation challenge in the area, especially the issue of shared accommodation, which is not ideal in the current times.

When sharing the project overview with the gathering, BHC’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Operations, Mr Nkaelang Matenge said that the Corporation and Botswana Police Service have a long-standing relationship dating back a good number of years. He highlighted a few projects, which were developed by the Corporation on behalf of the Police some of which include staff houses in Madinare and Molapowabojang.

Matenge told the gathering that the project was done on budget by a 100% owned citizen contractor albeit delivery being delayed due to various factors some of which included sourcing of building aggregates such as gravel from outside the village. He informed the guests that the Corporation was able to overcome most challenges and ended up delivering the project. Matenge commended the Botswana Police Services for entrusting the Corporation with this project including many others, which the Corporation have done on their behalf.

In his closing remarks, the Member of Parliament for Kgalagadi South, Honourable Sam Justice Brooks, commended the Ministry of Justice Defence and Security for having seen it fit to address the village’s crisis of shortage of accommodation amongst police officers. He further thanked the Corporation for its continued quest to house Batswana not only the Police but Batswana in general through schemes such as SHHA Turnkey and Public Officer’s Housing initiatives.

The event was attended by among others, the village leadership, Senior Government Official, local authorities, Botswana Police Service and the community of Tsabong village.