24 Feb 2019

 The Assistant Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Mr Itumeleng Moipisi says the ministry has never engaged unqualified nor unregistered land surveyors.

In his reponse to a parliamentary question, Mr Moipisi said foreign nationals were only used after engaging all local qualified surveyors.

The assistant minister said the ministry ensured that part of the survey jobs were reserved for locals whenever there were projects that needed to be outsourced. 

Mr Moipisi said out of the 45 private companies engaged to survey plots across the country during the land registration exercise, 39 were citizen owned firms with licensed practitioners in terms of the Survey Act and also registered with the Botswana Institute of Geomatics.

Member of Parliament for Ghanzi North Mr Noah Salakae had asked why government was engaging unqualified and unregistered land surveyors, some of whom were foreign nationals, to perform land survey works while there are those registered in terms of the Land Survey Act (cap 33:01). 

Mr Salakae had also asked why the ministry was not reserving jobs for local firms with qualified and registered professionals, especially for low cost projects like it was for other professional cadres. ENDS