10 Jul 2016

Government appreciates the challenges that the Botswana Meat Commission is going through and will do all it can to assist the organisation to survive the tough times.

Vice President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi said in an interview after his tour of the Lobatse plant on Friday that despite its challenges, BMC was doing well in supplying beef to especially its European market, hence bringing in revenue that would sustain it.

Mr Masisi who is also Moshupa- Manyana Member of Parliament appreciated that the biggest challenge that the organisation was facing was the prolonged time in paying farmers after purchasing their cattle.

He said he came to understand that the challenge was caused by the prolonged process taken for BMC to receive its proceeds from the buyer hence the delay in payment to the farmers.

For farmers to take close to six or eight months awaiting payment after selling cattle was quite a challenge, however appreciating that BMCwas doing all to shorten the time.

His visit, he said also made him appreciate the fact that the BMC market was especially affected by drought and the time when BMC was closed due to the buffalo incursion.

He said government would continue to engage with BMC management to come up with ways of resuscitating the organisation for it to come to full swing.

When touring the plant, he said he was impressed by the hygienic standards of the Lobatse plant including the good quality and standard of beef that was high.

The Vice President said he was impressed by the processes that were done in the same area using high technology from the time cattle were slaughtered to having it end as an end product where it was packaged and sent to the market and even consumed by the locals.

Keeping up the hygienic processes, he said was very important as the processes that were done in the plant were exactly the requirements demanded by the buyers, especially in Europe who brought in great revenue.

The other challenge that he appreciated was the fact that BMC ran two other plants in Francistown and Maun without making any profits.

Despite the fact that the two plants were not doing well, he said, nobody would want to come to a deterministic conclusion to shut them down as they were serving a very important social and economic function as source of employment and uplifting livelihoods.

He said it was not in government’s interest to have the closure of the two plants as the first option, adding that the immediate thing to do instead was to try and improve the two plants’ efficiencies.

BMC chief executive officer, Dr Akolang Tombale said despite the fact that BMC was doing well, it was of paramount importance to have people appreciate also the challenges that the organisation was going through.

He said the Vice President’s visit was a blessing especially that he appreciated what he had seen.

Dr Tombale indicated that much of the cattle bought from communal farmers were not European Union (EU) compliant, therefore had to buy them from the farmers and take care of them until they became EU market complaint.

He said his organisation had also been subjected to other challenges such as cattle disease where in 2011 BMC was delisted from supplying EU.

He appreciated government assistance through funds for the organisation to repay loans, adding that the past three years had seen the organisation growing its revenue tremendously.

He concurred with the Vice President that ever since the two operations in Francistown and Maun had been commissioned, they had never brought in money.

He said he appreciated the Vice President’s visit as it gave government the understanding of the wider challenge that BMC was going through.

“I am happy that the Vice President availed himself to continue being engaged, especially in taking a resolution about the two plants that are not doing well,” he said. ENDS