18 Aug 2021

Parliament has heard that there is no value set for the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL) tender for network installations and maintenance of cable works, civil works, and fibre optic cable and copper installation.

Answering a parliamentary question on Tuesday, Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Thulagano Segokgo explained that there was no value set because it was a tender for works and services given as and when there was need over the contract period.

Mr Segokgo added that the tender was published on May 8 and closed on June 4 this year and was currently under adjudication.

He also told Parliament that the bidder(s) who would be awarded the tender would be known after negotiations were complete and would be paid according to a rate per job that BTC was yet to negotiate with those awarded.

“In total 29 citizen-owned companies bid for the tender. All the companies that bid are citizen-owned. No award has been made at this moment and therefore I am not in a position to state how the tender was awarded,” he said.

Again, the minister indicated that there were many companies registered in the BTC data base, adding that for the just expired contract period, there were only four citizen owned companies that had been working with the corporation to provide customer network installations and maintenance of cable works, civil works and fibre cable and copper cable installation.

Gaborone Bonnington South MP, Mr Christian Greeff, had asked the minister to state the publication date of the tender for network installations and maintenance of cable works, civil works and fibre optic cable and copper cable installation.

Mr Greeff also wanted to know the value of the tender as well as the number of companies that bid for it, including citizen-owned. He further wanted to know which companies won the tender and the amount each got.

He also wanted to know the number of citizen-owned companies registered with BTC for the service. ENDS