Govt. turns Francistown into ghost city – councilors
Furious Francistown councilors from both sides of the political divide have accused the government for stripping Francistown of major economic developments. They said this during a full council meeting addressed by minister of Agriculture Patrick Ralotsia on the operational closure of Botswana Meat Commission abattoir. Ralotsia made a stopover in the city after meeting with northern farmers to break the bad news. He revealed that the abattoir was experiencing acute shortage of animals since farmers were reluctant to sell to BMC as a result of late payments.
He said so bad was the situation that money intended for the upkeep of Lobatse abattoir was shared between the two despite that the northern slaughterhouse had economically collapsed. Asked to say whether the abattoir has been closed indefinitely, Ralotsia said there was no longer any work to be done there, adding that employees only spend the whole days playing games. “Ga gona tiro ko BMC, babereki ba thola ba tshameka mhele. Hence we have decided to close it down unless you come up with ideas to resuscitate it.”
He continued that they have since approached Botswana Railways to assist them transport livestock to Lobatse. In reaction, councillors complained that all major developments intended for Francistown have been taken elsewhere to places including Palapye. Specially elected councillor Peter Ngoma decried that they were denied a teacher training college when it was unceremoniously closed and replaced with a state of the art Vocational College which has since turned into a white elephant. Tuelo Zazambi also of the ruling party suggested that cattle should be transported from the South to the North since Francistown abattoir is envied by the Europeans due to its quality beef.
He reminded Ralotsia about the closure of Tati Nickel mine which he said was done in bad faith to intentionally hurt residents of Francistown. Councillors were also annoyed that just recently, their efforts to develop the golf course through investors was stopped by the minister of local government for no reasons, saying these are clear signs that government wants to turn Francistown into a ghost city.