Govt to localise major infrastructure projects
Government has plans to complete the ambitious dual carriageway that runs from Ramatlabama to Ramokgwebane, the acting director of Roads in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Motaelere Basufi has said.
Basufi told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the proposed road will form part of a greater dual carriageway project that Botswana has been envisioning for many years now in efforts to ease congestion on the roads and also minimise the rate of car accidents and traffic caused by smaller roads.
'The dual carriageway will be in three phases and include the 46km Artesia-Rasesa road, the 134km Palapye-Tonota road and the 70km Boatle-Gaborone road.
“The Boatle-Lobatse road is expected to be completed over the next two years, while the other two will start on a date to be officially confirmed, but the aim is to ensure that it is before 2024,' he said.
He noted that while there are official declarations, the government wants to localise the project and ensure that Batswana have a piece of the infrastructure construction pie.
This follows 'concerns' that foreign-owned companies are doing substandard work on infrastructure, as reiterated by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Goitsemang Morekisi.
The PS told PAC that the government wants to create a construction sector that is not only robust and competitive but is also inclusive of Batswana, particularly the youth.
He said that the government wants to engage consortiums in the construction sector as part of citizen participation, in line with the mandate of the Economic Inclusive Bill, which is to ensure that Batswana make a significant number of beneficiaries of the economic industries and is able to run their own enterprises that can compete with companies from other countries.
The Economic Inclusive Act provides for the establishment of the office of the Coordinator of the Economic Empowerment Office, to promote the effective participation of targeted citizens in the economic growth and development of the economy, and to facilitate the enforcement of the economic empowerment initiatives.
Morekisi said that there were growing concerns that some foreign-owned companies are delivering substandard work in terms of infrastructure, which is the money going down the drain, and this should propel local companies to take the fort and play a role in the sector.
He pointed out that the recurring challenge in Botswana is the quality of expertise and that skills here are still not of excellent quality all-round as there is a problem of graduates lacking the competency to partake.
He said that right now the government is focused on improving the education and training system, particularly in vocational education and engineering fields because there is a challenge for Botswana seeing many graduates who are trained and qualified but are not work industry ready, and/or lack the acumen and skills capacity to take on major infrastructure projects.
'Government wants to engage locals and refine their capacity in the off-take and maintenance of public infrastructure works in Botswana.
'We envision a fully capacitated and high-skilled workforce that can deliver high-quality infrastructure instead of solely relying on foreign-owned companies to take on major projects,' he indicated.
Botswana’s construction industry is one of the slowest growing and it contributed 6.8 percent of GDP in 2020 and employs approximately a little over 50 000 people.