Zhengtai Group uplifts artisan skills
Mothusi Jowawa | Thursday September 4, 2014 15:37
Located in the booming Diamond Park, the BIH construction site which has just been started provided the playground for local artisans in the brickwork, carpentry, column and staircase shuttering as well as machine operation.
“The Itlhokotse Artisan Development Programme was introduced some five years ago as a way of ensuring that our skilled workers who never got a chance at school also get the recognition for their efforts. We have so far graduated over 500 of our workforce and it has become very popular with everyone willing to join,” the Itlhokotse Training Coordinator Tavona Rushwara said when welcoming guests to the expo. He further added that beneficiaries are assigned a training leader who also acts as their mentor, which makes learning and interaction in the workplace easy, hence productivity is high.
Amongst others, Zhengtai Group has successfully completed a number of large scale projects among them the Mongala Mall in Kanye, Mahupe and Goodhope Senior Schools, Indaba Lodge, Capital Motors showroom and the Y2K Building in the CBD. Their biggest project thus far has been the University of Botswana Student Hospital, which has hosted the Itlhokotse Expo for the past three years. Zhengtai Group, which also includes Red East Construction, attributed their job perfection to the highly skilled local workforce which accounts for over 80% of their overall manpower.
Dressed in full construction safety gear, this year’s Itlhokotse participants were more than ready to take on the challenge which was witnessed by among other dignitaries the Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Zheng Zhu Qiang, Dr John Mothibi from the Office of the President, as well as the Zhengtai Director in Botswana Dexiang Zhu. The participants were judged on their work and at the end of it all, the winning artisans were given certificates and prices ranging from electric kettles, digital cameras and cellphones.
“I am a proud product of the Itlhokotse Programme which I joined five years ago as a mere SHE officer and to this day, I have grown through the ranks to become part of the Zhengtai management. It is welcome for the group to impart skills to the local workers because the Chinese will not always be here, and in their absence we should have our own local skilled workforce,” Zhengtai representative Kopo Mononi said.