29 Jun 2015

The Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Mr Kitso Mokaila, has allayed fears that the transformation of the Geological Surveys department to being a parastatal will result in job losses.

Addressing Lobatse Town Council recently, Minister Mokaila said the transformation would only lead to some support staff  being absorbed in other ministry posts and government departments.

Where applicable, the minister said some elegible staff members would be given an early exit package. The transformed institution was envisaged to have a staff complement of about 192 out of the current 230.

Of these 192, Minister Mokaila said, 60 per cent of them were expected to be scientists with the hope that they would contribute to the developments of the mining industry as well as Lobatse as a town. 

The department’s staff complement, he said, was charactirised by more support staff in the form of technicians, drivers, labourers and cleaners leading to insufficient posts for core staff such as geoscientists, engineers and information specialists.

He said the transformation will therefore, lead to shedding more of the support staff and increasing on the core staff. The increase of core staff, he said, is imperative as it will ensure that mineral resources of the country are investigated and exploited in the most efficient, beneficial and timely manner.

Minister Mokaila also told councillors that the department will not be relocated to Gaborone, but will be stationed in Lobatse as shown by the building of new offices that were officially opened last year.

The transformation, he said, was necessitated by the need to make Botswana a mineral powerhouse, adding that the establishment of the Geoscience Institute will lead to financial spinoff.

He said the diversification of mineral based investments done by the institute will result in revenue to government as well as a way to retain highly experienced staff.

The restructuring of his ministry back in 2010 he said, led to the moving of the Geological Surveys department from the ministry and its transformation to a parastatal named the Botswana Geoscience Institute (BGI).

The transformation, he said will result in BGI being able to independently conduct geological or mineral research.

“The institute will geologically map the country partly with a view to determine suitability of land for particular uses and also avoid sterilisation of mineral resources by infrastructural development,” he said.

He said the institution will collaborate with other existing institutions such as Botswana Institute of Technology, Research and Innovation (BITRI), Botswana University of Science and Technology (BIUST) and the University of Botswana (UB), with more focus in the field of geoscience.

The challenges which necessitated the transformation, he said included the inability to attract and retain high caliber scientific and technical staff. The government pay structure, he added, was defeated by the private sector one, which led to a high staff turnover of experienced staff which was difficult to replace.

This, he said led to the mineral sector not performing at optimal efficiency with detriment to the national economy and society, thus the need to transform the Geological Surveys department to BGI.

In their comments, councillors showed satisfaction at the explanation provided by the minister with regards to job losses at the institution. They however, expressed concern on information dissemination from the ministry to stakeholders, saying it takes time to reach the relevant people.

Councillors therefore, advised the ministry to keep on updating stakeholders on time with regards to developments that keep taking place in the ministry. ENDS