BOPEU ventures into land ownership
Onalenna Kelebeile | Thursday December 11, 2014 19:40
The union president Andrew Motsamai said in an interview that BOPEU has so far acquired land in Palapye, Morwa and Francistown.
He said that they continue to invite funders and investors who could work with them in providing turnkey housing projects to their members. “The biggest challenge has been that most of the available land is unserviced, and the cost of servicing land is prohibitive to us,” he said.
Motsamai expressed hope that the government’s initiative of promoting home ownership would be extended in a partnership with workers to address shortage of accommodation for public service employees.
“We are happy that since June this year Botswana Housing Corporation has identified plots for the construction of additional 450 houses under the Public Officers Housing Initiatives. We hope that if well thought out and managed this efforts could go an extra mile in reducing shortage of accommodation for government workers,” he added.
He further said they believe that Lobatse could be turned into a relief town for Gaborone and government could secure and service strategic land along Lobatse-Gaborone including Francistown-Matsiloje and allocate part of the land to private property developers and unions to construct employee housing. “We propose that Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund join hands with government to provide a guarantor to employees who participate in this housing benefit scheme,” he said.
Motsamai also said through its private equity vehicle the pension fund could assist by way of providing funding to finance these projects as well as to boost local economy. He believed that this idea could spur-on the private sector in creating an efficient transport network around cities and towns.