Govt takes power crisis to China
Mbongeni Mguni | Friday June 12, 2015 18:03
Botswana’s chief diplomat, minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi has been roped in to tackle the power crisis. Two years after the completion date, the country’s biggest power station in Morupule B has not helped the power situation and Venson-Moitoi is travelling 18,500km away to engage the Chinese government.
She is embarking on the journey to seek a remedy for the embattled power plant next week. “Yes, I can confirm that I am going to speak to the Chinese, and that what you are enquiring about is part of that mission,” she said in a telephone interview from Johannesburg where she is attending the African Union summit. Mmegi had wanted to know if her mission was intended to engage the Chinese government on the failed project.
“I am not in a position to discuss the details of my mission, mme se o se utlwileng ke sone seo (but what you have heard is the truth),” she added. The trip comes 18 months after the responsible authority, the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila travelled to China on a mission to engage the China energy company that was responsible for the P12 billion power station.
Recently, Mokaila revealed that the Ministry was compiling all relevant documents in the form of a brief for Venson-Moitoi to take in her discussion with the Chinese. The documents will include a root cause and gap analyses carried out last year into the causes of the frequent breakdowns at the multi-billion Pula power station. Both studies have pointed to poor workmanship, quality of materials used and design, as some of the most glaring gremlins at the plant.
Although the Chinese firm is still in the two-year Defects Notification Period under which it is responsible for any faults, relations between the two parties have cooled over the years. Last year, the BPC revealed that the Chinese contractor was demanding P260 million for various alleged contract breaches. The local utility said its own contractual claims would be significantly above this figure. “The implementation of Morupule B project was delayed and the contract allows the Corporation to charge the contractor penalties for breach of contract and vice versa,” the BPC says.
“The contractor has submitted claims relating to events for extension of time which are in the process of being evaluated, quantified and negotiated. “The Corporation believes the counter claims by the contractor, if successful, would not exceed the Corporation’s claims against the contractor.” It is understood Venson-Moitoi will also attempt to address diplomatic relations between the two countries, particularly as China continues to be a major economic partner for Botswana.
Details of the minister’s agenda are very sketchy as there are no officials who are prepared to speak on record. In 2013, the Attorney General Athalia Molokomme told a press conference at her office that China is a very complex state to deal with because of its size and population. At the time she was responding to a question on how her office was assisting to track down the officials of Fengyue Glass Manufacturing Company that failed to deliver the Palapye glass project to the government. Later, the Chinese Embassy issued a statement saying it was assisting the Botswana government on the matter. The project has since been liquidated.