16 Sep 2019

The adoption of the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) in 2016/17 was a deliberate attempt by government to boost economic growth through increased government spending in identified sectors of the economy.

This was said by the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso when delivering a keynote address at the handover ceremony of multi-million pula ESP projects in Francistown on September 13.

Ms Tshireletso said government introduced ESP in 2016 to provide an impetus for economic recovery, growth and renewed opportunities.

She explained that ESP was also adopted to promote economic diversification, accelerate employment creation amid weak recovery of both the global and domestic economy because of the 2008 economic recession.

Under ESP, the assistant minister said five areas were targeted including construction of buildings and roads, tourism development, agriculture production and manufacturing.

The projects that were handed over comprised, five double -storey classrooms, seven cubicle toilets, 43 teachers’ quarters at a cumulative value of over P48 million.

She explained that the delivery of the projects would not only provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning, but would also go a long way in addressing the welfare of educators.

Ms Tshireletso applauded the contractors engaged in the work for delivering the good quality project within schedule and budget.

She also gave credit to the political leadership, government officials and school management, contractors, suppliers, workers and the general public for having been supportive during the course of the construction of those projects.

She explained that her ministry was also constructing new offices for Tatitown Customary Court through the same programme to the tune of over P1 million.

She also urged the school authorities, Francistown City Council and the community at large to look after those assets so as to ensure their durability.

Ms Tshireletso said that was in line with the notion of sustainable development, which placed emphasis on the issue of growth against limits.

“This should remind us that money, like any other resource, gets depleted and as such, we should be mindful of the future generation, lest history judges us harshly for having failed to save the world for the future generation,” she said.

Earlier on, in her welcome remarks, the mayor of Francistown, Ms Sylvia Muzila explained that the city benefited a lot from the programme, ‘because it uplifted the living standards of the people of Francistown by creating temporary employment for them’.

The project, she said, also addressed the 2022 vision of the City of Francistown and the National Vision 2036, which aimed at transforming the country’s economy from mineral-based to being knowledge based economy.

Francistown people, she added, were fortunate that some of the projects were built on plots that were acquired by the council.

Ms Muzila therefore appealed to government to allocate the City of Francistown more land to reserve it for future use.

She said the project came at a time when the city was facing a serious challenge in terms of classroom shortages and staff accommodation for primary schools.

Giving an overview of the project, deputy town clerk (technical), Mr Lawrence Mokotedi explained that even though the project was delivered on time, it faced a number of challenges such as appeals by bidders resulting in time and cost overruns.

Mr Mokotedi further stated that most tender appeals were based on the prices, which they said were reasonable, while some sub-contractors were terminated.

Giving a vote of thanks, former MP for Francistown East, Mr Buti Billy explained that the projects had totally changed the landscape of Francistown and they were a sign that the City of Francistown was growing. ENDS