INSIDE THE PRESIDENCY FOR 2-8-13 – BRIDGING THE DIGITAL AND ECONOMIC DIVIDE Welcome once more to your weekly window into events and issues involving the Presidency. Tomorrow His Excellency the President, Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, is expected to be among the multitudes enjoying themselves, while contributing to the upliftment of others, at The Lady Khama Charitable Trust Family Fun Day and Urban Obstacle Course, which will be held at the Botswana Cricket Club Oval behind the National Stadium. Entertainment at the event will include raffles, Teen Zone, Kiddie Zone. Food Vendor Stalls, Family Sports competitions, Horse Rides, Live Bands, DJs and more. Further details can be found on the Trust’s website, lkct.org, or via their Facebook page. During his recent two day tour of the Okavango constituency President Khama was pleased to witness the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, the Honourable Peter Siele, announcement to Xhaoga residents that their settlement is to be formally recognised as a village. The Minister observed that 2011 population census showed that Xhaoga had 767 people, qualifying it for village status. In Shakawe President Khama addressed public officers, where he expressed concern over the growing trend of negligence on the part of Government drivers resulting in the damage of CTO vehicles. At Kajaja, he informed residents of that there were plans to build a clinic in their area. At Ikoga he was pleased to be reunited with the village’s Seperu dance group, Shoshoruka, who had scooped first place in this year’s President’s Day traditional dance competitions. Besides Cabinet Ministers and officials, the President’s entourage included the current Miss Botswana, Rosemary Keofitlhetse, who encouraged youth to remain focused on achieving their ambitions. Vice President His Honour the Vice President, Dr. Ponatshego Kedikilwe, had an especially active public schedule. On Saturday he was the Guest of Honour at the Mmadinare Agricultural Show, where he observed that such events remained crucial for showcasing local goods and services as well as agricultural produce. He further reported that Government has revised the ISPAAD programme to further promote the adoption of more productive farming methods whereby they will be provided 100 per cent seed and fertilizer subsidy for doing row planting up to a maximum of five hectares and 50 per cent subsidy for the subsequent 11 hectares. On Monday morning, Vice President Kedikilwe was in Hukuntsi. There he took part in the ground-breaking ceremony for the P25 million Macheng Mall Centre, which is being built by the local entrepreneur A.T. Monnakgotla, who is best known for his transport business. Dr. Kedikilwe noted that the development dovetailed with Government’s Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) initiative to diversify the country’s sources of economic growth with an emphasis on generating local business opportunities. The project is expected to create over 200 jobs upon its completion and will comprise a 16-chalet lodge, conference facility, restaurant, supermarket and commercial bank. On Monday evening, the Vice President was back in Gaborone to formally launch the Digital Migration process with the switch on of a DTT signal using the new ISDB-T International standard for 8 MHz that was adopted for our country earlier this year. The event was also graced by the Japanese Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Honourable Keiichiro Tachibana, who was accompanied by a large delegation consisting of private as well as public sector participants. Minister and representatives from elsewhere in the region and beyond were also on hand to witness the milestone event. While Monday’s switch had no immediate effect on local consumers, who continue to receive BTV via the analogue or satellite transmission they have heretofore been using, over the next two years our country will be working towards the ultimate switch off of the analogue signal, which will first require that Batswana who rely on receiving terrestrial or free to air (i.e. not satellite) signals for their TV are provided with appropriate decoders, which have already been developed and are expected to soon become available. In this respect their is no truth to the suggestion that existing TV sets, much less mobile phones will become useless. The modalities of ensuring that Batswana in general are digitally enabled, through public awareness as well as access to appropriate technology, was high on the agenda of this week’s inaugural meeting of the joint Botswana-Japanese Task Force, whose establishment was fast tracked in the context of an Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed following talks in Tokyo earlier this month. The agreement provides a framework for the provision of Japanese technical assistance in the development of the next generation of digital high definition interactive broadcasting, which will be rolled out as a platform for e-Government, including e-Education, Health and Disaster Management outreach, as well as enhanced entertainment. Yesterday the Vice President, along with members of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Poverty Eradication chaired by the Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the Honourable Mokgweetsi Masisi, was also on hand for the official opening of a Poverty Eradication Workshop at Damochujenaa in Mmadinare constituency, which is being held under the theme “Towards the Holistic Empowerment of Micro-Entrepreneurs”. The keynote speaker at the event was the Anglo-American Corporation’s Head for Social Performance, Mr. Jonathan Samuel. About 1000 beneficiaries drawn from Mmadinare, Bobirwa, Tswapong North and Tonota South as well as Selebi Phikwe constituencies are participating in the workshop, which will end tomorrow.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 07:29:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015