30 Oct 2023

State-owned institutions have been called upon to reduce absolute dependence on the government so that the latter could use the scarce financial resources for pertinent development such as the construction of roads, hospitals and schools.

The Director for Pensions and Insurancein the Ministry of Finance, Ms Patrinah Masalila, said this on behalf of portfolio minister, Ms Peggy Serame, during an occasion to mark the official opening of the P103 million worth of the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) house in Francistown on Friday.

The four-storey building, according to Ms Masalila, would drive economic growth by stimulating economic activity for the fund as it would provide high-quality space for businesses in the northern part of Botswana.

“The development of this significant landmark comes at an opportune time as it will contribute to the city of Francistown revitalization plan and it will face lift the city’s Central Business District (CBD),” she said.

Ms Masalila said the main constructor and all the sub-contractors involved in the construction of the building including companies providing services for the official opening were all Batswana-owned companies; a thing she said called for commendation for the fund.

“These companies employed more than 172 Batswana who are residents of Francistown and surrounding villages,” she said.

She said she was happy that the building was already fully occupied by tenants and that the revenue accrued would go towards the sustenance of the building, stability and resilience of the fund.

Ms Masalila also made a clarion call on Batswana to be vigilant on the road especially when approaching the festive season to avoid road crushes that had led to the loss of life, injuries and substantial economic losses.

“Statistics shows that to date 306 lives have been lost as a result of road accidents and coincidentally the same number of people died the same period in 2022,” she said.

She entreated stakeholders to continue working hard towards ensuring the safety of the roads. She assured that MVA would continue in its relentless efforts to educate the public about road safety and ensure that all and sundry follow President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s narrative of “A Re Chencheng” even in the instance of roads.

On a lighter note, she commended MVA for the successful delivery of the project at a time when the world was grappling with tough economic times occasioned by COVID-19.

The Mayor of Francistown, Mr Godisang Radisigo, underscored the city’s openness to do business with like-minded entities such as MVA.

“As the leadership of the city of Francistown we shall ensure that the environment is conducive to doing business for both local and foreign registered companies,” he said.

He said as much as the development will make MVA Fund services accessible to the residents, the building had also enhanced the look of the second city.

He therefore commended the fund for constructing such an iconic building in the city and was hopeful that other entities would be challenged to do the same soon.

Mr Radisigo also challenged everyone to collaborate with the Fund and other stakeholders to reduce road carnage.

“The huge amounts of money MVA Fund spends to compensate, rehabilitate and support road crash victims could be channelled towards infrastructural development such as this one if we all play a part in preventing road traffic crashes,” he said.

The MVA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Mooketsi Tlhagwane, showered the Ministry of Finance with praise for its continued support of the Fund since its inception.

He also commended Francistown city officials for being instrumental from the beginning to the end of the building project.

“We will continue to collaborate with the city of Francistown to progress other government key initiatives,” he said also giving the contractor, consultants and MVA staff for doing an impeccable job throughout the construction phase.

Giving an overview of the project, MVA Board Chairperson, Ms Boitumelo Mokgatla said the building, the first of its kind in Francistown would not only serve as an investment property for the Fund but also as a conducive office space for their clients to provide better services.

The construction of the building, she stated, was also a way for the fund to increase its footprint to every corner of Botswana.

“The offices that we have vacated had served us very well for years.

However there were limitations in terms of serving some of our claimants who use medical assistive devices hence we considered it prudent to construct this building to among others ensure we can provide universal access to our services as well as to be customer-centric,” she said.

The building, located in the heart of the budding city, boasts of  underground parking and a useable rooftop.

The Botswana Motor Vehicle Accident Fund started operations on 1 January 1987.

The fund was born to provide compensation in the form of benefits that include; medical care and rehabilitation, loss of income, loss of support, funeral expenses, incidental expenses, enhancement of quality of life to road accident victims, provide third-party insurance cover to drivers and owners of motor vehicles, promote road safety and accident prevention and deal with all matters relating to the carrying out all of the above. ENDS