Cllr calls for caution in new Morupule tender

Koketso Kgoboge | Wednesday March 4, 2015 12:14

 

Councillor George Makhura of Khurumela West ward in Palapye said the IPP given the contract must do a good job in the stipulated time.

Speaking last week at the Palapye Sub-District Council meeting, he said it is vital that the government does not repeat the mistakes of the past that led to power shortages because the company that won the tender for Morupule B did not deliver to expectations.

“We cry to the government that careful consideration should be undertaken to make sure we get a qualified contractor with a good track record and understanding of this kind of job,” he appealed.

He said the mistakes in the Morupule B tender should be avoided at all costs because they inconvenienced Batswana who had to bear with power outages and costly electricity.

He hailed the efforts to produce more power at Morupule saying this will improve the economy of Palapye.

He said the coal plant to be built in Morupule will create employment and other opportunities for Batswana.

“We hope this project becomes a success, and we think now is the time to explore other business opportunities that use the coal to produce other products.

We need to benchmark with other countries for what we can use our coal for and then produce coal manufactured products to relieve Batswana from unemployment and poverty,” said Makhura.

However, Morupule coal mine employees relations manager, Letsibogo Ndwapi said it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources (MMEWR) to award tenders to the IPP and also give them land where they will produce power and sell to Botswana Power Corporation (BPC).

“Batswana should not be worried about the price of electricity because of the IPP. Open cast mining is always cheaper than shaft mining and in that respect, coal might come cheaper therefore prices can be controlled,” he explained.

Ndwapi said Morupule Coal Mine together with MMEWR have established a task team to look into other beneficiations of coal.

In the long run, the intention is to invest making other products from coal that might improve the livelihood of Batswana.