Four more PPP products lined up

WANETSHA MOSINYI
Staff Writer | Tuesday November 4, 2008 00:00

 

The CEO of Bifm, Victor Senye ,says the Office of the President has informed the private sector that it is considering the PPP model for the construction of envisaged Trans-Kgalagadi Railway, the Kazungula Bridge, the Walvis Bay port and the second university.

'We would like to believe that there'll be room for other projects to be procured in this manner,' Senye says.Bifm was the leading partner in a PPP consortium that delivered Plot 21 on time and on budget.

It handed the building - which already houses the Office of the Ombudsman and the Lands Tribunal, among others - to the Ministry of Works and Transport.

The Minister of Works and Transport Johnnie Swartz said at the ceremony that Government was committed to the PPP initiative as an alternative procurement method for numerous projects.

'I am happy that we had to respond to only one question (in Parliament) because the PPP, as an alternative procurement model, has proved to be free from the usual hassles in the procurement and labour industries,' Swartz said. The PPP was one of the ways in which government shared its contribution in project delivery to the economy with the private sector.

Plot 21 commenced on February 21 last year and was completed by June 20 this year, delivered within budget and on time. The parties involved are the government of Botswana, which owns the piece of land; Bifm, which provided the bulk of the financing; while Stock & Stocks Botswana was responsible for design and construction.

Local facilities management company, Outsourcing Botswana, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the building through the life of a 10-year concession to 2017.Another PPP project that Bifm is currently involved in is the SADC headquarters at the new Gaborone CBD, Senye says it is on track for completion in June next year.

The SADC headquarters project, which commenced on October 15 last year, is scheduled for completion by May 2009. The P160-million SADC project is steered by Bongwe Investments, which comprises Bifm, Stocks & Stocks Botswana and Outsourcing Botswana.

It is co-financed by Bifm, Barclays Bank and Absa Capital of South Africa. However, Senye says the construction of the headquarters of the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism has been delayed but negotiations are on-going and will be concluded soon.

Under a PPP, risk is normally transferred to a party best placed to manage it. The objective is to deliver public services in the most effective way while stimulating private sector contribution to economic development, simultaneously allocating risk and return between the parties involved to ensure that the best interests of stakeholders are served.