06 Feb 2020

Members of Parliament on Wednesday started to air their views on the 2020/21 national budget proposals with Jwaneng-Mabutsane legislator, Mr Mephato Reatile calling for developments in his constituency.

He said Mabutsane was the first to be declared a sub-district, but the village remained undeveloped.

MP Reatile emphasised the need for village infrastructure development and a hospital in the village, adding that he would find it difficult to explain to his constituents that they had not been offered anything in the P12 billion development budget.

The Jwaneng-Mabutsane legislator further said the budget should address the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) manifesto aspirations, which they used to win last year’s general elections.

For example, he said, the two junior schools in Jwaneng had  pupils up to 59 per class, therefore more classes should be constructed to reduce the size to 1:30 in line with the manifesto. 

The MP said some roads linking Jwaneng with nearby villages were constructed before independence and he requested government to bring them up to standard.

He further called upon government to implement public private partnerships (PPP),  saying this was long overdue.

MP Reatile further said there were two central of powers at Jwaneng Debswana Mine with the Australian director earning P900 000 per month and he employed another Australian who gets P1. 2 million salary per month.

Mr Reatile said he ‘does not understand’ how the Australians were employed while there were qualified Batswana, adding the salaries of Batswana were far below that of their counterparts.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development was applauded for reserving 40 per cent of development projects for Batswana and MP Reatile further applauded him for his efforts in udertaking PPPs.

For his part, MP Ignatius Moswaane of Francistown West said he was totally against the amount allocated to the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security, saying the money budgeted for air assets could be channeled towards more pressing issues such as education.

He said there were about 300 000 people waiting for plots and the money earmarked to purchase fighter jets for the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) could instead be used to clear the backlog.

MP Moswaane said until the situation was reversed, foreigners would continue to dominate the local economy at the detrimental of Batswana.

Talking about the Ministry of Health and Wellness, he called for improvement in services offered. Every district, he said,  should have a brigade for pupils not absorbed into senior schools and other tertiary institutions.

MP Moswaane further called for reduction of the recurrent budget, saying the development budget should instead be increased.

MP for Tonota, Mr Pono Moatlhodi, said he was happy there was a cordial relationship between government and labour unions, saying in the past government eyed unions as their political opponents.

He, however, said he was concerned that government fleet was not insured, something which impacted on the drivers as they pay for damaged vehicles.

MP Moatlhodi also requested for infrastructure developments in Tonota, further calling for maintenance of the junior school, saying it resembled a war zone and pleaded with the president and cabinet to visit the school to get first hand experience.

He said they should be provided with a primary hospital and urged government to include it in the National Development Plan (NDP) 11 midterm Review.

On the budget allocated to the defence ministry, he opined that it should be used to offer accommodation for BDF members instead of directing it to air assets.

He also said the Old Age Pension should be increased to P1 500 together with allowances of Village Development Commitees (VDC).

MP Moatlhodi said youth in Phikwe manufacture different products but they were dissapointed that government was not purchasing from them.

He further said the past parliament passed a motion which called for former MPs to be given 20 per cent gratuity at the end of their term, saying they should not go home empty handed after servicing their country. ENDS