The much debated Economic Stimulus Package is a long overdue lifeline for Botswana’s construction industry but attention needs to be paid to proper implementation in order to maximise the investment. This sentiment was shared by the two panellists who spoke at the recent breakfast seminar themed “Unpacking the Economic Stimulus Package: What’s in it for the construction industry?” It was organised by Botswana Guardian and Standard Chartered Bank Botswana.
“What I’d like to see from the stimulus package, as far as possible, is a fair and equitable distribution of work for consultants, contractors and the general construction economy,” chairperson of the Business Botswana (formerly BOCCIM) construction sector, Markos Markides, who was one of the panellists told The Business Weekly & Review on the side-lines of the seminar. “This will stimulate employment opportunities for citizens.”
As far back as three years ago, Business Botswana, in partnership with several construction industry representative organisations produced a proposal calling for government to introduce a stimulus package specifically aimed at the construction sector.
According to Markides, the industry has been in decline from as far back as 2008 with many firms having been forced to retrench or close down entirely. “We didn’t feel it straight away but the sector started going down around that time and the amount of work available, especially from government, steadily dropping ever since,” said the owner of the two construction companies; Excavator Hire and Rola Botswana.
“The Government should make sure the ESP touches all Batswana and not just a small group of people,” corroborated Michael Moji, Citizen Contractors Association Chairperson. Moji was the second panellist. “If this ESP can touch all Batswana then all citizens will be lifted out of poverty but if it benefits only a small number of people then this country will remain stuck.”
Rather than saying 4000 houses will be built Government should say we will build 500 houses every year.
Moji highlighted the plight of artisans as a serious matter of concern saying that as far back as 2007 research indicated that artisans should be paid more than P3, 000 but to this day they are being paid an hourly rate of P7. “As fast as possible let’s address the problem of low salaries,” roared Moji to the seminar attendants. “Government can’t expect these artisans to deliver quality work when their salaries are too low for them to support themselves, let alone their families.” The Citizen Contractors Chairperson added that his organisation would like government to buy materials and pay the labour costs for small contractors.
On a more positive note, Markides said that the unbundling of mega projects for the benefit of smaller citizen contractors, which was amongst the recommendations outlined in Business Botswana’s construction stimulus proposal, has been implemented to a significant extent.
However, this was a point on which Moji strongly disagreed. “Policies in this country are driven at a snail’s pace and that is a serious problem. Unbundling could have solved the industry’s problems if it could have been done a long time ago.” Moji said that the directive to unbundle projects was given back in June 2013 but the implementation of this directive has been insignificant thus far.
Markides said he was happy that the government has put emphasis on awarding projects to those companies that participate in the economic diversification drive and those that empower youth and women but expressed concern that while the number of tenders has increased in recent years, few of these projects have actually been awarded.
Meanwhile, Moji warned government to guard against the boom and bust cycle that has been typical of Botswana’s construction sector. “Rather than saying 4000 houses will be built Government should say we will build 500 houses every year,” the Citizen Contractors Association Chairperson offered by way of an example. “Otherwise we will have the same cycle of 10 years without new projects.”