02 Jun 2016

The acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Dr Omponye Kereteletswe, has told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that Air Botswana is bankrupt and has for a while been running at a loss. 

He stated that they were working on a strategy to re-fleet the airline and get the right aircrafts that could be efficient and also fly long distances. 

Dr Kereteletswe admitted that several strategies had been used at Air Botswana (AB) yet there was no profit made, adding that this might be an issue of competitiveness because there were situations where South African Airways got more passengers than AB. 

He highlighted that with the election of the new Air Botswana board, there was potential and hope that they would come up with ways to help resuscitate the airline. 

Dr Kereteletswe said at the moment the airline would not extend their routes beyond Africa as they were working on a reengineering exercise where new aircrafts would be acquired. 

Responding to questions from the panel, he stated that there was a plan to build a railway line from Mosetse to Kazungula, which would cost P1 billion in the NDP 11. 

He said e-government budget was about P1 billion with P600 million allocated for e-services and data building centre while P340 million went for security. 

Dr Kereteletswe said they were in the process of revamping government network to handle voice and data with 23 Batswana companies expected to have a stake in the project. 

Commenting on BR Express, Dr Kereteletswe noted that the passenger train experienced technical problems at the start but was now well and fully operational. 

He stated that operation had commenced at the dry port in Namibia, with the second hand vehicles going through the port adding that there were expecting other commodities in the long run. 

He highlighted that some access roads had been budgeted for under the ESP, with a dual lane from Boatle to Gaborone, Mandunyane/ Mathangwane, Radisele/ Pilikwe. 

Dr Kereteletswe said P350 million had been allocated for the Tonota/ Mandunyane/ Borolong road with no budget for Francistown Nata rehabilitation. Ends