17 Feb 2021

The Member of Parliament for Moshupa-Manayana, Mr Karabo Gare has commended the finance and economic development minister for steering the country through economic hardships.

Airing his views on the 2021/22 National Budget proposals on Tuesday, MP Gare said the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ERTP) would help the country emerge from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic.

He further applauded Minister Thapelo Matsheka for injecting P1.3 billion into the economy to assist Small and Medium Enterprises to remain afloat, adding he also welcomed the new Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) guidelines as they made it easy for Batswana to access funding.

MP Gare, who is also the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security further said the development of the agriculture sector could help reduce import bill and that could be done through the Industry Support Fund.

On state owned enterprises, he said, while some parastatals were not making profits, they should be supported given their overall role in the economy.

He said parastatals like Air Botswana, although were running at a loss, played a vital role in promoting other sectors as they made it easy for investors and tourists to travel.

Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) is pivotal in the cattle industry and it should improve its reporting and accountability, MP Gare said.

Minister Gare said the funds allocated to his ministry were not enough, saying agriculture should be adequately funded as it was the key to economic growth and diversification.

He said the sector was faced with challenges amongst them inadequate infrastructure.

Moshupa village needs a taxi rank and the police station was inadequate, poorly resourced and the police did not have enough accommodation, he said about his constituency.

He further said the schools also needed resources, citing the lack of a photocopying machine at Moshupa Senior Secondary School.

MP Gare thanked the Jwaneng Cycling Club for donating two classrooms in Machana, saying this was a welcomed development, especially during these difficult COVID-19 times.

He welcomed the construction of the hospital in Moshupa, but said it was planned for many years ago hence it offered 70 beds although the population had grown.

Minister Gare was against the type of the design, saying more costs were going to be used in the building rather than procuring all required medical equipment.

He further said Pitseng-Moshupa road should be built given its importance in accessing agricultural food production areas.

For her part, Specially Elected MP Ms Peggy Serame said Batswana should be aware of the total costs of services they needed.

Batswana do not have a problem with paying tax but only want to know how it was being used, she added.

The Specially Elected MP berated some MPs, saying they should explain to the electorates how the narrow revenue base was affecting the government expenditure.

Meanwhile, Ms Serame, also the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry said while the Botswana Bureau of Standards introduced plastic standards, the government never introduced the plastic levy.

She said only this year, the government would have a Statutory Instrument to collect the levy, adding the amount consumers had been paying were meant to cover additional costs of procuring required plastics.

On grey imports or carbon tax, she said, some Batswana could be exempted from paying tax for the second hand import vehicles especially those in business.

She further said there were leakages and said businesses should be encouraged to have point of sales machines linked to the BURS as some companies avoided tax through cash transactions.

Ms Serame said the number of state owned enterprises should be reduced but in a phased manner. ENDS