28 Jan 2013

The Assistant Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Vincent Seretse has told tractor owners in Ngwaketse West area that government has resolved the issue of late payments.

Tractor owners were not willing to assist farmers through the ISPAAD programme due to delay in payments. The delay of payments was exacerbated by shortage of staff at Jwaneng revenue office and the new computer system, which rejected some of their names.

However, Mr Seretse said the introduction of Electronic Fund Transfer system would be much convenient to arrest the situation adding that payments should not be made through cheques since Bank of Botswana was no longer accepting them.

He also encouraged tractor owners to open bank accounts in order to ease payments. He said also stated that three more officers had been deployed at the revenue office to help.

He appealed to farmers not to lose hope adding that government would continue to assist them where possible to eradicate poverty.

Ngwaketse West has 85 private tractor owners who have registered through the ISPAAD programme to plough for farmers while government has only four tractors in the area. ENDS