22 Nov 2020

Government should prioritise the Mosetse-Kazungula rail infrastructure project due to its increased value on regional trade.

The sentiments were expressed by Mahalapye West legislator, Mr David Tshere when contributing to the State of Nation Address debate. 

He further noted that the rail infrastructure project would serve as a connection between Southern Africa and North African markets, thus promoting inter-regional trade. 

He said the rail line, which would connect to Zambia and beyond through the Kazungula Bridge, would not only create an opportunity for tourist train tours,  but would also be an alternative transport mode for agricultural products from Pandamatenga farms.

Mr Tshere similarly pleaded for the expedition of the Mmamabula- Lephalale rail line, saying it would, upon completion, avail access to South African and Mozambique ports through Swaziland rail network for the coal market.

He said Mmamabula-Lephalale rail line would also expose Botswana coal fields to the South African heavy haul lines and maritime ports. Mr Tshere further protested against Botswana Railway’s (BR) lack of commitment to live up to its mandate of resuscitating Mahalapye economy.

He said the relocation of BR headquarters to Mahalapye was done with the intent to rejuvenate the economic status of the village.

Low-profit margins that lead to the ultimate downfall of BR, he said, had negatively impacted the growth of Mahalapye’s economic status.

“Research by Statistics Botswana has revealed that there is a strong correlation between BR success and Mahalapye economic status. 

It reflects that Mahalapye went on a downward spiral post-2011 at a time when BR began to experience a decline in revenue generation,” he said. He expressed disappointment towards the failure of BR to diversify their service provision from carriage to the establishment of locomotive manufacturing and assembly plants, which would have come with employment opportunities. Mr Tshere said the nation was also awaiting a comprehensive report on the derailment of BR train in December 2019 between Pallaroad and Mahalapye, which claimed the lives of two crew members.

For his part, Tlokweng MP, Mr Thulagano Segokgo applauded government for efforts to discourage Batswana from selling land. He said land remained an important resource that must be jealously guarded, thus noted that it was appropriate for government to empower Batswana by reforming the land tenure policy.

Mr Segokgo said issues of land shortage in his constituency were of great concern and noted that it was pleasing that government had embarked on a land management reform agenda to ensure speedy land allocation.

Mr Segokgo, who is also the Minister of Transport and Communication highlighted government’s intentions to extend and develop road network, particularly in the north eastern part of the country, citing the Francistown-Nata, Maun-Sehithwa roads and some section of Nata-Kazungula road.

Contributing to the debate, MP for Nkange, Dr Never Tshabang vowed to transform Nkange constituency to being the centre of economic activities. 

He narrated his constituency hardships, which he said included poor academic results, poor road network, lack of proper healthcare services and high unemployment rate.

On human-wildlife conflict, Dr Tshabang said his area was prone to human-wildlife attacks despite the area not being officially declared a wildlife conservation area. 

He complained about the encroachment of elephants in his area, which he said was at an alarming rate even though Nkange was never demarcated as a wildlife management area. 

Dr Tshabang opposed government proposals to venture into indirect liquefaction processes.  

The process generally involves gasification of coal to a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the process of converting coal to fuels such as diesel or gas. 

The process, he said, was outdated and expensive, warning that it released harmful carbon emissions that could be against climate change policies. ends