16 Feb 2022

Mochudi East MP, Mr Mabuse Pule, has appealed to government to consider engaging in rapid assessment of COVID-19 aftermath.

Commenting on the budget speech on Tuesday, Mr Pule said some people have lost employment, while others were left with lifetime health implications and therefore needed help.

Mr Pule called on the public who were economically, socially or health wise affected by the pandemic to make their challenges known so that they could be given appropriate assistance.

“We must engage in a deliberate rapid assessment of the consequences of COVID-19. I believe there are some people in the society who do not have the courage to make their challenges known. We must investigate such cases as some could be assisted temporarily through social service programme,” said Mr Pule.

On the budget speech, Mr Pule described it as being honest, reflective and focused on infrastructure and requested that Mochudi East be considered as a priority area. The constituency, he said, had the potential to contribute effectively to food security and agro-tourism hence the need to improve road and power networks.

He said improving roads and power distribution in his constituency would turn the proposed budget agenda into a reality. Mr Pule said proper road networks would improve access to markets for harvests from his constituency and also improve the quality of products. Mr Pule said the ease of doing business would depend on accessibility.

Meanwhile, Selebi Phikwe East MP, Mr Kgoberego Nkawana, said the country’s economy was in an unfortunate situation taking into consideration that government was considering getting financial loans to resuscitate it. However, Mr Nkawana said prior to considering loans from outside sources such as World Bank, government must first exhaust local funders.

He said challenges to the economy must be addressed accordingly, as they were a threat to the future. Commenting on government’s proposal to reduce financial support in the form of grants to public institutions and encourage them to generate their own revenue, Mr Nkawana advised that caution must be exercised and also supported merging of those believed to be assigned duplicate duties.

He said some public entities like Air Botswana were still in dire need of financial support from government, and urged government to increase its funding.

MP Nkawana said even though having the potential to generate its own revenue and finance its affairs, it was unfortunate to note that AB was never designed to make profits.

As such, Mr Nkawana said government must inject more funds into Air Botswana to assist in acquiring more fleet and open new profitable routes. “We must engage drastic measures to develop Air Botswana. The first two years must be focused on marketing the airline and opening of new routes, making profits will then follow in due cause,” he said.

He said Botswana was an alternative tourism destination and therefore Air Botswana through its long and international routes must be used to market the tourism sector.

Mr Nkawana said the expansion of A1, road would not only focus on easing traffic congestion but would equally contribute to the movement of tourists and goods and suggested that the project should consider expanding feeder roads to major locations.

He said after developing the Plaatjan Bridge there was need to develop the roads , especially that the Plaatjan border was the shortest point of exit to South Africa from Selebi Phikwe and its periphery.

The country must engage in generating solar energy as an alternative while coal must be used to produce domestic and industrial gas, he said.

In his contribution, Francistown East MP, Mr Buti Billy raised a concern about the Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital situation, saying it faced shortage of blankets for patients and accommodation for employees.

Mr Billy said referred patients were made to wait for over a year to see specialists and also appealed to government to prioritise construction of a primary hospital in Francistown, which was planned for under National Development Plan 9 (NDP9). He said the primary hospital was allocated a plot at Gerald Estate.

Francistown had a challenge of street lights as they were being managed by two authorities being the city council and Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and therefore when one inquired about their maintenance, it was difficult to get solution, hence the need to have one entity managing them.

MP Billy also appealed to Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) to maintain roads which were destroyed during their maintenance works.

He said delay in maintaining the affected potions of the roads would result in potholes that gradually expanded into main roads.

He also said transparency in government would reduce corruption hence the need for government to create a conducive work environment.

He added that the media would play a positive role in selling the country to potential investors and therefore must be provided with accurate and timely information.

Mr Billy further encouraged Francistown residents to engage in agro-agriculture, using hydroponics, adding that modern ways of growing vegetables does not require large chunks of land and therefore backyard gardening was suitable for Francistown.

He added that fishing farming and bakery were among the untapped business opportunities and also called fruits and vegetable farmers to up their game and become commercial. He said in April and December 2021, government used P800 million in importing vegetables and fruits.

He said the focus must be on sustaining the economy by reduce the wage and import bills. ENDs