12 Feb 2017

Member of Parliament for Nata-Gweta, Mr Polson Majaga has proposed for sufficient funds from the national budget to be spent on land servicing to create conducive environment for business growth.
Commenting on the 2017 budget speech on Thursday, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) legislator pointed out that having more serviced business plots would attract more investment into the local economy and boost revenue streams for government.
“The ministry responsible for lands should be allocated enough funds to service land which will in turn boost business and bring money into our economy. Investing in land servicing will create conducive environment for more investment to take place in our economy. The way the situation is at the moment, I don’t think many foreign investors will be interested in investing in our economy,” Mr Majaga said.
Another way of broadening the revenue streams, suggested Mr Majaga, would be through ending monopolies enjoyed by various parastatal organisations offering crucial services in the country such as Botswana Power Corporation and Water Utilities Corporation.
The MP said ending monopolies would create competition in the industry which would also increase the quality of services offered to citizens.
Furthermore, he said ending monopolies would save government a lot of money which it had been spending on financing these parastatal organisations.
 “Government can assist Batswana with bonds to invest into these multi-million businesses, which will in turn create wealth for the entrepreneurs. The money which is being used to fund these parastatal organisations can then be spent on other sectors of the economy such as education and health,” Mr Majaga said.
He also asked government to fund Batswana to develop fish industries since the country is blessed with plenty of fish in the Okavango and Chobe regions, stating that utilising fish resources would help to broaden revenue streams.
The legislator also proposed a 13.5 percent increase in salaries of civil servants, saying it would help to improve their conditions and make them more productive. ENDS