From the MD’s Desk
by Sandy Kelly
ESP, WHAT WILL IT
MEAN?
There has been much speculation in the press as to how the ESP programme
recently announced by His Excellency, Ian Khama. will be implemented. Whilst I
think that we will all agree that it is well past the time that Government does
something significant and dramatic to address the current economic climate, there
are many skeptics as to how the ESP may play out.
The key to it will be implementation and, “what exactly is Government going to
spend the money on?”
Comments from ABCON caution against stimulating another “Boom-Bust” scenario.
An industry, which has almost been brought to its knees over the past 5 years since
government spending on capital projects pretty much dried up, has lost much of
its workforce and expertise. Skilled foreign engineers, supervisors and artisans have
gone, many as a result of non renewal of work & resident permits. How is that
going to change?
The departments of Labour & Home Affairs have developed a culture of inertia,
resulting in a loss of these skills and entrepreneurship. Have they been replaced
by qualified Batswana? The “proof is in the pudding”! There is also a dominanance
by Chinese contractors in the construction industry. Whilst many are straight and
competent, some are not. The failure of Morapule B power station is a glaring
example. Will the ESP merely, in one way or another, boost their order books? It is
said that the ESP may be substantially citizen reserved. The questions to ask here
are: are the citizen consultants and contractors suitably qualified? And, is it going to
be a case of “jobs for the boys”?
To me, the biggest dangers in implementing a programme like ESP is:
• Selecting the right projects, and
• Controlling the expenditure.
2
Q1
2016
But firstly we need to differentiate between “spending” and “investing”. The last
couple of years, government has been spending on maintenance, mostly to protect
assets, (eg. roads), but haven’t done anywhere near enough. Our roads are in a
mess, our water works are broken down and don’t work properly, our power
infrastructure is old and un-maintained.The blown up switchgear at the Naledi substation, which left most of southern Gaborone without power for a week recently
and the current (or no current!) situation in northern Gaborone are examples. This
ineptitude has got to stop. It is no good spending billions on new clinics, hospitals
& other projects if we can not or can’t be bothered to run and maintain them
properly. What am I saying here? Government needs to find a way to train our
people properly and to change their attitude as to what they’ve got to do.
What projects? Let’s start with the keys, water and power - forget about everything
else until we’ve got this properly on track. Without those, nothing can happen. We
“The biggest dangers in
implementing a programme
like ESP is selecting the right
projects, and controlling the
expenditure.
can’t mine, manufacture, build, run our businesses,
live and work properly. The failure of government
(included here is Water Affairs, The Ministry and
procurement) to procure the necessary pipelines,
pump stations and pipelines, including North
South Carrier 2, is a glaring example of ineptitude
and corruption. The result is the country is on its
knees begging for water while we sit in Gaborone
with our billion Pula dams in the north sitting full of
water without a way of ferrying it south! The same
thing with the power supply.
Govt continues to talk about “Private Sector”
- well, read “lip service”. Where is a power takeoff agreement with any number of Independent
Power Producer initiatives: CIC Mmamabula
project, Shumba Coal, etc. BPC is too afraid to
be shown up and to have its business rendered
useless. Why? Because people working (did I say
“working”) there will be without a job. But they will
remain employed at the expense of the tax payer,
affecting the viability of our country’s economy.