09 Oct 2019

Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Mr Eric Molale has assured the residents of Mokgenene and Poloka about the electrification of their villages in the next financial year.

Addressing kgotla meetings at Mokgenene and Poloka on October 8, Mr Molale said government was committed in connecting all rural settlements to the national electricity grid.

Mr Molale said some years ago, government initiated a rural electrification project, where 100 villages were connected with electricity each financial year.

Under the current financial year, Mr Molale said electrification was ongoing at 111 villages.

He said Mokgenene and Poloka would be on the last batch of the 100 villages to be covered by the national grid.

Mr Molale also noted that other projects relating to electrification were on the extension of power networks to cater for newly established localities.

Even though the two villages were to be connected to the current grid, Mr Molale encouraged the residents to consider generating power using other alternative sources such as solar energy and methane gas.

Mr Molale said the localities were ideal to use solar energy stations.

The minister said currently power demand was high, therefore, government augmented by buying power from neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Namibia.

Therefore, Mr Molale said rural communities were urged to form cooperatives to generate solar power and sell it to Botswana Power Corporation.

Mr Molale castigated as misleading the misconception that solar power was easily affected by weather conditions, .

He said power generated through solar energy was equally valuable and if the network was well maintained it would operate sustainably.

“We encourage communities to utilise natural resources in their localities to improve their livelihoods.

You must actively engage in projects that will generate income and improve the economy of your localities,” said Mr Molale.

Mr Molale said as government was advocating for people to engage in projects to generate power through solar energy, they would be accorded some form of training on precautionary measures to be observed.

It is important to train more youth on maintenance of solar panels and smart meters, he said.

“They will require regular maintenance and as such create  employment opportunities for the rural communities.  

I am here to appeal to you to be ready so that you can engage in profitable businesses in power supply, said Mr Molale.

Mr Molale said government was focused on encouraging people to generate power through sources that would cause no harm to the ozone layer.

“Our primary source of energy is coal and you must be aware that the burning of coal emits gases that pollute the ozone layer, therefore we want to minimise the use of coal in favour of green technology, said Mr Molale.

He noted that some people were taking long to connect electricity to their houses despite subsidised power connection fees.

Mr Molale said some people were unable to engage electricians to wire the houses, a process that was not covered by government.

The Minister said government had stepped forward to assist those who could not afford the cost of wiring their houses by introducing ready-made devices.

“The ready-made box will reduce costs incurred in wiring the house.

I hope by the end of the year the box will be available in the market, said Mr Molale.

Mr Molale also encouraged the residents to utilise some valuable deposits of natural resources such as letsoku to augment their sources of generating revenue and better their lives.

He said small mines policy was being developed to encourage communities to use such natural resources.

“Locations such as Serorome and Letlhakeng were abundant in limestone deposits,” he said.

Mr Molale said limestone was used in controlling temperature at Morupule power plant smelters and was currently imported from Cape Town. He therefore said it was high time for the available resources to be fully utilised.

He added that water was a valuable natural resource that must be used cautiously to benefit the people. He therefore encouraged the residents of the two villages to use water for irrigation purposes to produce food and livestock feed to nurture the agriculture sector.  ENDS