26 Aug 2020

The Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane, has underscored the importance of building a resilient economy desired for transforming the country post the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commenting on the National Development Plan (NDP11) mid-term review, he said an ‘economic chorus’ should be sung in every corridor of the country, towards road to recovery.

He said  lessons learnt from the pandemic required concerted efforts towards transforming the country to be self-reliant.

He further indicated that the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ERTP) was an important aspect to the economy.

Mr Tsogwane, also Boteti West MP and Leader of the House, said more should be done towards growing domestic tourism and improving information and communications technology (ICT) since the world was increasingly becoming virtual.

For his part, MP for Shoshong, Mr Aubrey Lesaso, underscored the importance of setting standards in the modern world.

He said setting standards brought about efficiency, competitiveness, quality of products and services.

He said as the country worked towards recovering the economy, project management and implementation should be a priority.

Furthermore, he said ICT played a crucial role in emergence of new services as it also played a part in transforming the workforce.

Kgalagadi North MP, Ms Talita Monnakgotla, said improvement of small and medium enterprises was important for broadening economic activities and creation of employment.

She also called on government to fast track implementation of the Trans Kalahari Highway project.

MP for Jwaneng- Mabutsane, Mr Mephato Reatile complained that the mid-term review concentrated on greater Gaborone saying rural communities were likely not to benefit from projects earmarked for NDP 11.

He also said government should close gaps and improve Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) because it had potential to accrue substantial amount of revenue for government.

Specially elected MP, who is also Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila said the ministry had embarked on a programme on water infrastructure development projects in most parts of the country.

In this regard, he said every constituency would benefit from NDP 11 in different sectors to facilitate economic diversification.

Also commenting on the review, MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, said he was disappointed that the review did not  address income and wealth inequalities.

He also said the plan did not set any targets for employment creation, improvement of lives, health care delivery end education. ENDS