By Limpho Rantletse
MASERU
Boqate Leisure Park (A HOME AWAY FROM HOME) is a famous park located at Ha fako near Ha Makhoathi Maseru, individually owned by Makhetha Mots’oari. It was initially a farm, Mots’oari then saw an opportunity to start a park due to its huge vacant space. It is now a beautiful place where people celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, baby showers and socialize with friends and family. “It has been a challenging project from the beginning because there were dongas everywhere,” stated Mots’oari. The owner tried to come up with solutions to restore the land, however the public seemed to appreciate it in its natural state, so he decided to do only a few touch-ups for the safety of the people who utilize it and stop it from eroding further.
He researched on how he can control and stop the soil from eroding further and making huge dongas, he then discovered that the placement of used tyres could do the trick. The tyres are placed/constructed at the head to prevent the donga from spreading further. The soil was then filled up, the dongs in time and vegetation soon established its self and the beautiful flowers began to grow which made the park even more beautiful.
One of the customers Mrs. Lineo Monyeke says she started visiting Boqate Leisure Park a long time ago, and most of the construction was not yet done. There were lots of dongas, they used to fear for their lives especially at night. She indicated that they as customers are really impressed by the transformation and how well hidden the dongas are. People who do not know Boqate from the beginning would not believe the state it was in before. Initially I thought the tyres were for decoration because of how beautifully they are placed. “Boqate Leisure Park is really a home away from home, their hospitality is outstanding and you will never feel left out or as if you don’t belong, its home for everyone”, stated Mrs. Monyeke.