24 Nov 2016

Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) still experiences cash flow problems due to loss making abattoirs for Francistown and Maun, says Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse.

Responding to a question in Parliament, Mr Autlwetse said in the past five years, Francistown and Maun abattoirs made losses of P170 million and P200 million respectively.

He said BMC is currently undertaking an institutional restructuring process and that the objective of the restructuring is to improve the cash position of the commission resulting in timely payments to all suppliers and producers.

He noted that farmers still wait for their payments due to a long cash cycle whereby upfront payments for cattle are made with sales revenues coming in much later.

He said currently, the commission is clearing all payments that were due in October 2016 at all the three abattoirs and that it is anticipated that all payments would have been made by end of November 2016.

He appreciated that BMC monopoly is a topical issue for stakeholders in beef industry. He however said that a decision will soon be made on how best the existing set up could be reviewed to give the industry a return on investment.

MP for Ghanzi North, Mr Noah Salakae had asked the minister whether BMC still experiences cash flow problems and if so when should the public expect the cash flow problems to be solved and whether the farmers still wait several months to be paid by BMC as a result of the cash flow problems and other problems.

Mr Salakae also wanted to know if the minister would consider ending the BMC monopoly as demanded by the majority of stakeholders in Botswana. BOPA