14 Feb 2019

The number of Geomatics Engineers in Botswana to-date stands at 246 professionals, 215 of whom are locals while 31 are non-citizens. Answering a question in Parliament on Wednesday, the Assistant Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Mr Itumeleng Moipisi said out of the professionals, 151 were in the public service while 74 were in the private sector and the remaining 21 were in the parastatals. He said the ratio of locals to foreigners was approximately 7:1. MP for Ghanzi North Mr Noah Salakae had asked the assistant minister the number of professional Geomatics Engineers in Botswana, the ratio of locals to foreigners and their contribution to the national economy. Expanding his answer Mr Moipisi said the geospatial or location based information produced by Geomatics engineers was a basis for security of tenure, development, planning and societal needs to facilitate economic development. He said the engineers provided, among others, surveying, mapping and geo-information datasets to support land management, agriculture, infrastructure development, natural resource management, exploration/mining, disaster management, national security and title registration to ensure collateral security for property owners, thereby driving the economy. ENDS