P68 Million Tender Rotting At Delta Dairies

As you read this comment, 300,000 pupils in primary schools across the country are missing out on a crucial dietary supplement - milk.

This dietary supplement has been missing since March this year. Not because government does not care. A P68 million tender is rotting in the offices of the milk producers and suppliers, Delta Dairies, a citizen owned, and by extension, government owned enterprise, employing about 56 staff.

However, since the tender was awarded, the milk plant, the brainchild of citizen promoter, Howard Sigwele, has been under lock and key, with no operations taking place. The first delivery of milk from this lucrative tender was to take place in April this year. Basically it has been seven months since government deliberately empowered this citizen enterprise but they have not delivered and the 300,000 pupils across the country continue to suffer malnutrition. What is also mind boggling is the fact that CEDA, who now holds 98.5% stake in the company, has literally abandoned the company and do not seem to care first about the P68 million tender, and secondly about the sufferings their “I Don’t Care” attitude has brought to the children of Botswana. The employees at Delta Dairies have gone for four months now without pay, and CEDA do not seem to care.

Editor's Comment
Routine child vaccination imperative

The recent Vaccination Day in Motokwe, orchestrated through collaborative efforts between UNICEF, USAID, BRCS, and the Ministry of Health, underscores a commendable stride towards fortifying child health services.The painful reality as reflected by the Ministry of Health's data regarding the decline in routine immunisation coverage since the onset of the pandemic, is a cause for concern.It underscores the urgent need to address the...

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