MP acquaints constituents with building scheme

Member of Parliament (MP)  for Francistown East Buti Billy will start introducing a home improvement housing scheme in partnership with Building Materials Supplies (BMS) to help underprivileged people living in this constituency.

During a recent interview with Northern Extra, Billy explained that after he realised that the Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) building and materials loans did not benefit everybody, he approached BMS which has a post-dated account in operation to help his constituents improve their homes. He told Northern Extra that during the tour of his constituency starting this week, he will have BMS staff to come and address people concerning their scheme.

“I approached BMS and asked them to extend a helping hand by giving my qualifying constituents short term loans which can help them to build structures in their plots or to make any improvements they need to carry out. Under the current scheme, a customer has two options to benefit from the loan as the first option regarding the loan is for someone to be given goods whose value is paid over a period of six months without any interest. The other option is for an individual to open an account with BMS and deposit money monthly until the value of the goods required is reached before collection,” he explained.

When quizzed as to whether the scheme won’t clash with the SHHA scheme, Buti said that the BMS deal covers a very short period of time as it gives beneficiaries less time to finish the debt unlike a bank loan and SHHA scheme, which are serviced over years in the process wasting money through interests. BMS credit controller Precious Mmusi admitted that Billy has approached them to introduce their post-dated account among his constituents so that they can improve their homes without any hassles.

“We have long introduced the PD account over the past years and only a few people were aware of the scheme and we are very grateful when MPs  approach us to help their constituents as this is a clear sign that they care. Currently we assist every Motswana citizen who has a permanent job irrespective of their salary as a single individual will always want to purchase materials in the value of their budget. I can confirm that we will be embarking on a tour of Francistown East to garner support for the initiative which most people are in the dark about,” she said.

She added that it isn’t surprising that a lot of citizens are not aware of the initiative as Batswana prefer to keep good initiatives to themselves rather than sharing it with their neighbours and friends. She explained that part of their qualifications is that, one has to deposit a post-dated cheque or initiate a bank stop order authorising the debiting of his account to credit BMS monthly as agreed. Finally, Mmusi said that BMS is not prepared to help those working in the mines since their risk of losing a job is very high.