18 Aug 2020

Botswana Ash mine in Sowa Town is in consultation with stakeholders to improve their engagement with the communities.

Speaking in an interview with the Botswana Ash general manager, Mr Kangangwane Phatshwane on August 17, following a consultation meeting held with the town leadership, he said they were working on repositioning their business in a way that would encourage community participation.

He said that had not been happening, hence the communities  raised concern regarding the mine’s involvement on issues affecting their livelihoods.

 Mr Phatshwane said they would start looking into biodiversity being conservation, adding that they would like to become water stewards because they used a lot of water, while people did not have enough potable water.

 He said their area was prone to disaster during rainy seasons as they experienced floods, hence the move to find out how they could ensure that there was proper water distribution to the communities.

Mr Phatshwane added that they also aimed at ensuring that they participated in the processes of securing water for future projects without interrupting water distribution to the communities.

Furthermore, he pointed out that they wanted to be on the same platform with the communities and share the same objectives.

He therefore noted that through consultation they would be able to share with people how much they spent through the community social responsibility programme.

In addition, he highlighted that locally they spent 60 per cent of revenue and 30 to 10 per cent regionally and overseas respectively.

He emphasised that the mine brought in foreign exchange through exportation.

Annually, the mine spends about P20 million through the community social responsibility programme on sports such as football and chess as well as investing in education and conservation in the area. ENDS