The Mahalapye and Palapye police stations projects which both commenced construction in 2009 are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The Mahalapye station project, which according to the Botswana Police Head of Planning and Development, Assistant Commissioner Pilane Sebigi, was 91% complete as of the end of last month, is expected to be finished mid-year.
Initially the over P140 million project was expected to be complete in October last year. However, due to some problems amongst them shortage of gravel which the contractors had been experiencing lately caused the delays. Mr Sebigi says that the rainy season has also stalled the progress, as construction is difficult under such conditions.
As of last December the construction progress of Palapye police station stood at 73% with expectations that it will be done with by the end of this year. Assistant Commissioner Sebigi says that they hold monthly meetings with relevant stakeholders in the projects to address all the problems they encounter.
Meanwhile, the Head of Planning and Development says that there are some Batswana who want police stations to be built in their villages. He however pleaded with them to be patient as various factors such as availability of funds, population density, crime rate and others have to be taken into consideration before a station can be built.