22 Mar 2017

Parliament on March 20 approved the budget proposals by the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development.

The budget proposals amount to P843.8 million for recurrent and P34.7 million  for development budget.

Minister Thapelo Olopeng said P6.9 million of the development budget would be used for the ministry’s computerisation and requested P2.5 million for fleet expansion.

He said the need for fleet expansion came as a result of the newly established offices in 12 districts and 18 sub-districts as well as three newly built community libraries in Nata, Sebina and Werda.

Minister Olopeng said P23.5 million from the budget would be used to construct a roof on the VIP Stand at the Francistown Sport Complex facility which was deferred in previous years due to financial constraints.

He also requested P4.3 million as government contribution towards its partnership with the Sara and Robert Rothschild Family Foundation which has pledged to construct 20 community libraries for Batswana.

“Government contribution is by way of providing equipment and furniture as well as constructing performance stages and ablution blocks at every community library constructed by the Foundation,” he said.

Parliament was further informed that Information Systems Consultancy would use P376 000 to engage consultants to help improve programmes management and monitoring.

Regarding the recurrent budget, Mr Olopeng said it showed a six per cent decrease as compared to the 2016/17 budget.

The 2016/17 was more by P93.6 million as it catered for BOT 50 activities.

However, the minister said P574.8 million  of the budget would go towards the ministry’s headquarters, while P22.6 million  would be allocated to Botswana National Archives and Records Services.

The Department of National Service and

Internship, he said would get P246.4 million to be used for interns and national service allowances.

Meanwhile, the minister has said the majority of the Botswana population are young people and therefore if the government does not invest in them, it runs the risk of having an elderly population that is unable to support itself owing to missed opportunities.

“It is therefore imperative that all efforts are made to tap into the energy and creativity of our youth and also to develop our youth into model citizens for the development of our country in this globally competitive world,” he said.

He said in this connection, his ministry ran various programmes aimed at entrepreneurship development, youth advocacy and behavioural change, and job readiness skills for the youth.

The minister said during 2016/17 financial year, his ministry received a total of 2 701 Youth Development Fund (YDF) applications and as at February 2017, 847 had been funded to the  tune of P101.2 million, creating 2 074 employment opportunities for young people.

“Adjudications and appraisals continue to be undertaken and it is expected that the entire budget allocation of P112 567 150 will be disbursed by the end of the current financial year,” he said.

Minister Olopeng said youth enterprises continued to face challenges such as lack of operational space, high rentals, limited market access and lack of business management skills.

“To mitigate this, the ministry is identifying and refurbishing old buildings, and is working on compilation of land banks for access to the youth. Furthermore, Government continues to introduce affirmative action initiatives in favour of the youth,” he said.

The minister pointed out that exemptions on Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) registration, procurement of tender documentation at 50 per cent and reservation of selected services for youth were introduced.

“Significant progress was noted across ministries on implementation of the 20 per cent quota reservation for youth, resulting in 902 youth companies awarded tenders to the value of P106 201 689 across government. Youth are also trained in business management to improve their skills and enhance sustainability of their businesses,” he said.

On sport and recreation, the minister said the total amount of incentives and appearance fees paid to national team players and coaches stood at P2.3 million.

The minister said the constituency sport tournaments continued to attract a lot of out-of-school youths across the country to play sport.

“The participation levels for Cycle 3 of the 2016/17 financial year stand at 85,498. The tournament continues to have a positive impact on youth, with over 255 participants having joined mainstream league teams, while some volunteers who were officiating in the programme have since graduated and are officiating at the mainstream leagues,” he said.

The minister said they intended to include athletics in the constituency sport tournaments in the coming financial year.

Minister Olopeng said improvements at the National Stadium were completed in preparation for the 2016 Independence Celebration (BOT 50).

“The improvements increased the seating capacity from 20 000 to 23 000. The stadium is complete and functional at the present moment,” he said. ENDS