20 Mar 2019

Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development, Mr Vincent Seretse, has requested Parliament to approve P792.5 million as budget for his ministry.

Presenting the proposed budget on March 19, Mr Seretse stated that P471 million was for the recurrent budget while the development budget had been allocated P321 million or 40.5 per cent.

Mr Seretse said 55 per cent of the recurrent budget allocations would be allocated to the Department of Building and Engineering Services while the department of housing would get 31 per cent.

The remaining amount of the recurrent budget, he said, would be shared among units within the ministry headquarters.

Under the development budget proposal, Mr Seretse said P321 would be utilised for refurbishment of government buildings and ensuring that citizens had access to affordable housing as well as promoting home ownership through housing schemes.

He said P163.5 million would be channeled towards social and affordable housing programmes while the second largest share of P152.5 million would be allocated for refurbishment of government buildings, with the remaining P5.2 million allocated for the ministry computerization projects.

Furthermore, Mr Seretse highlighted that his ministry remained committed to the provision of appropriate infrastructure to promote economic diversification and international trade.

“In an effort to ensure that we facilitate the country’s economy to compete internationally, the country’s infrastructure should meet world class standards hence robust measures should be in place to ensure that the performance of the construction industry is improved,” he said.

 Mr Seretse stated that a 70 bed primary hospital would be constructed in Moshupa at an estimated cost of P509 million, adding that tenders were being evaluated and the tender awarding was expected before end of 2018/2019 financial year.

In line with government commitment of providing access housing for Batswana, Mr Seretse stated that his ministry continued to implement housing programmes and provide policy direction.

 He said 2 338 out of 2 729 home improvement projects funded from 2014/2015 to 2017/2018 financial year had been completed while 391 were at various stages of construction, adding that P34.5 million in the 2018/2019 financial year had been channeled towards 575 SHHA projects in various districts.

 Mr Seretse noted that the Installment Purchase Scheme aimed at promoting home ownership among citizens had delivered 372 units during the 2018/2019 financial with 264 units expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2019/2020 financial year.

He said maintenance of facilities, however remained costly for government as the ministry continued to look into different strategies to ease the burden and empower the private sector. ENDS