Gov’t spends P515m on BCL property purchase
Mompati Tlhankane | Tuesday November 28, 2023 06:00
He said once government has bought the properties, former BCL employees and other Batswana would be given an opportunity to acquire them. He said as of now, the liquidator has received three acceptance letters from former employees of BCL and none of these have provided proof of funding.
“Former BCL employees had already been offered to purchase houses and those who had expressed interest to acquire housing had not yet been able to raise funds. The timelines for the liquidation process are too tight and may not afford interested former employees sufficient time to raise funds for the acquisition of the housing properties. “Therefore, government decided to remove the housing properties from the liquidation process. If this is not done, the Liquidator could still offer the properties to potential buyers in the open market.
Secondly, government has the social responsibility to protect its citizens and save Selebi-Phikwe Township from total collapse and ultimate dilapidation in the event houses are not occupied,” Tsogwane explained. He pointed out that this decision by government is truly a demonstration of a responsible and accountable government that cares for its citizens. Tsogwane was responding to a question from Gaborone Central MP, Tumisang Healy, who wanted to know the rationale behind the acquisition. Looking back, Tsogwane said when BCL Group of Companies was placed under Provisional Liquidation on October 9, 2016, the liquidator took control of the company’s assets, which included housing properties in Selebi-Phikwe.
He added that the liquidation process is anticipated to be concluded by mid-2024. He indicated that to cushion former employees and also avert vandalism of the housing units, government decided to go into an arrangement with the liquidator, where the government paid rentals to the liquidator on behalf of former BCL employees so that they could continue staying in the housing units. “From February 2019 to August 2023, government paid about P109.6 million as rentals for the BCL houses. Starting from May 2023, the liquidator proceeded with the requisite judicial processes and made offers to former BCL employees to acquire housing properties. The offers were to lapse between August and November 2023.
In September 2023, the government expressed interest to the liquidator to acquire all the housing properties which had not been sold as at September 27, 2023,” Tsogwane further disclosed. The Vice President also revealed that private entities, government ministries, and its departments also expressed interest in acquiring some of the housing properties for accommodation of their employees. He said so far, the liquidator has received 12 acceptances of the offers from private entities to purchase the properties. Additionally, he said the liquidator has received an expression of interest from the purchasers of the BCL Hospital, to purchase five housing properties. Tsogwane indicated that the liquidator is determined to proceed with effecting the sales concerning the accepted offers. “Liquidation is a judicial process in which the entity under liquidation is held in the interest of the creditors. Government cannot dictate liquidation processes or procedures to the liquidator.
However, government intends that when the acquisition of houses gets underway, the costs of that will be offset against monies advanced to the liquidator. This will have to be agreed with the liquidator,” he clarified. He added that the properties have been valued at a total cost of P1,330,380. Additionally, as part of the acquisition of the remaining properties, Tsogwane said the government would be required to reimburse the liquidator the costs incurred in conducting the land surveys, at a total cost of P541,500.