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Sunseliko
The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) recently awarded certificates to 254 Mokhotlong residents in recognition of their completion of the trade test and community tourism training programmes.
The event was held at Tlokoeng in Mokhotlong on Thursday. The graduates, who include both men and women, are the fourth batch of graduates from the programme which was launched in 2020.
The project is a collaboration between the Lesotho Tourism Development Authority (LHDA) and the Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation (LTDC). The project is also supported by the Technical and Vocational Development (TVD) Unit of the Ministry of Education and Training.
The aim is to empower the local workforce and promote tourism in the community.
The program is one of several initiatives to give back to communities affected by LHDA projects and aims to provide skills to people whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by the construction of dams and other projects, in this case LHWP Phase II – Polyhali Dam.
According to LDHA Polyhali Branch Manager Gerald Mokone, the authority conducted a study on common problems and during the assessment noted the strong voice that the authority was unable to employ personnel, mainly due to lack of suitable qualifications. This led to the development of the plan.
Since its establishment, 2,000 people have been trained so far.
Trokoon Chief Qethu Sekonyela thanked all stakeholders for changing the lives of his people.
He said many of the social ills plaguing the country, such as violent crime, could have been avoided if similar initiatives had been implemented earlier.
However, Chief Sekonyala also expressed concern about the challenges faced by graduates of the program, who are required by future employers to have other demanding qualifications, such as five years of work experience and letters of recommendation, which they do not have.
He therefore urged the Minister of Natural Resources, Mohlomi Moleko, to intervene and ensure that this does not happen. ?
One of the participants, Malikhutsana Makoro, thanked LTDC for the tourism training.
“We don’t know how to treat tourists in our area, how to engage with them and how to avoid doing things that will drive them away,” Ms Makoro said.
“Now we know that we can survive just by working with our hands, and our warm welcome to local people is what makes us special.”
Another participant, Mr Kapoqo Kente, expressed his gratitude to LHDA for the opportunity.
He highlighted the challenges faced by technicians without qualification certificates who have difficulty finding jobs. With the new certificates, he hopes the future will be better.
LHDA chief executive officer Tente Tente reiterated the agency’s commitment to ensuring communities benefit from its projects.
“We are not just sending water to South Africa or generating electricity at the Muela Reservoir,” Mr Tente said.
“Our goal is to improve the lives of the Basotho people. One of our initiatives is to empower the local workforce through training and certification.
“The opening of this lodge will be a life-changing experience for the Basotho people and is expected to happen soon. We hope that those who have been trained in tourism will be able to bring a wonderful experience to visitors to their area,” Mr Tente said.
He said the training was a testament to the Basotho Ports Authority’s commitment to sustainable development and improving the lives of the Basotho people.
The Minister of Natural Resources, Mr Moleko, thanked all those who contributed to the initiative.
He said it was very important to empower the Basotho people and the government was working on providing irrigation systems, fish farming schemes and various tourism projects to empower the citizens.
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