14 Mar 2018

President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama has commended Red East Construction company, which constructed the over P75-million extension of the Broadhurst Magistrate’s Court, for the delivering the project on time, within the stipulated budget and specifications.

Speaking at the official opening of the magnificent project yesterday on Tuesday, President Khama said it was a matter of public record that government and the nation at large had received a raw deal from some unscrupulous contractors who either did shoddy work or delivered projects past the contractual time lines with huge costs overruns, which had to be borne by the tax payers. However, President Khama explained that such incidences have been arrested and are now isolated and few, adding that he hopes that in the fullness of time the workmanship would remain enduring.

The President also appealed to those responsible for the maintenance and refurbishment to ensure that its would be done on schedule and further challenged the users of the facility to take good care of it, as well as the furniture so that it retains in its mint condition.

Giving a vote of thanks, the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi explained that the judiciary had experienced significant budget growth both for recurrent and development budget allocations.

He explained that from 2010 to 2018, the Administration of Justice had recorded an average growth of 13 per cent for the recurrent budget, the highest being 21 per cent in 2014 as compared to other ministries with single digit growth rates for their budgets within the same period. With respect to development budget, Mr Kgathi said the Administration of Justice had, between 2010 and 2018, experienced sizeable budget allocations with a corresponding average utilisation rate of 70 per cent for the development budget in the last eight years.

Minister Kgathi said the ongoing session of Parliament has approved a recurrent budget of over P286 million for 201/2019 financial year, adding that the allocation represented a significant increase of more than double when compared to the 2010/2011 recurrent budget allocation of over P122 million.

In addition, he said Parliament approved a development budget of over P98 million for the Administration of Justice, which represents an increase of 71 per cent above the 2017/2018 development budget allocation.

“This is a demonstration of the support that the Administration of Justice has enjoyed and will continue to enjoy in recognition of the critical role this arm of government plays in nurturing democracy and good governance in this country,” he added.

He also thanked the contractor, Red East, and all the sub-contractors for honouring and adhering to their contractual obligations in delivering the structure.

He urged the Department of Building and Engineering Services (BDES), the Administration of Justice and all concerned stakeholders to prioritise all maintenance requirements of this facility.

For his part, Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo appealed to President Khama to lobby for the Administration of Justice to build magistrate courts in Francistown, Serowe and Ghanzi. Ends