02 Mar 2016

Minister of Minerals Energy and Water Resources (MMEWR) Mr Kitso Mokaila has requested Parliament to approve close to P3.8 billion for his ministry, with 374.3 million being for recurrent budget and P3.4 billion for development budget. 

When tabling his ministry’s budgetary request before the parliamentary Committee of Supply at the National Assembly on Tuesday, Mr Mokaila said MMEWR has continued to invest in crucial infrastructural projects that improve the livelihood of the country’s citizens as well as boost the country’s economic prospects.

Some of the major expenditure items invested in over the past financial year, he said, included the Botswana Power Corporation, the North-South Water Carrier project and the Kanye/Molepolole interconnection water project.

However, Mr Mokaila revealed that the country had faced the challenge of a decline in production and sales in the mineral industry, which has been the mainstay of the country’s economy.“The mining industry experienced a drastic contraction of 12 per cent through the year up to the third quarter of 2015. 

The negative growth can be attributed to a sharp decline in diamonds and copper-nickel production and sales, in response to reduced demand and historic downward trend of commodity prices.  This was mainly driven by the slowing down of Chinese economic growth,” he said.

Mr Mokaila said that the average percentage contribution of minerals to the country’s Growth Domestic Product (GDP) was 22 per cent over the past year compared to 24 per cent in 2014, with dividends and royalties that accrue as mineral revenue declining by 48.6 per cent compared to the 2014/15 figure of P14 billion.

Furthermore the minister said that his ministry was proactive in limiting river sand mining in order to safeguard the environment.

“To curb the environmental damage that results from river sand mining, the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources continued its campaign to sensitise the public about consequences of river sand mining and to promote the use of alternatives to river sand. As a result, there is a growing uptake of manufactured sand and crusher dust from quarries,” he said.

Mr Mokaila further said that in the Greater Gaborone area, where he said the shortage of construction sand is more pronounced, Kgale and Belabela quarries produced a combined total of 604 500 tonnes of manufactured sand in 2015.

He added that the water sector relies on implementing the recommendations of the National Water Master Plan Review of 2006, which seeks to match availability with projected demand.

Mr Mokaila said that while the exercise of transferring water and waste water services to the Water Utilities Corporation was completed in 2013, the reform agenda of the water sector is continuing, including the internal restructuring and capacity building for both the Department of Water Affairs and the Water Utilities Corporation.

He outlined various initiatives his ministry has undertaken to improve water provision in the country, including the development of strategic pipelines, seeking alternative water sources, and negotiating for international water from neighbouring countries. Ends