Kgalagadi bricks: A breakthrough innovation
Mmegi Editor | Thursday December 3, 2015 12:35
One of the most interesting developments is that they intend to produce bricks from Kgalagadi sands to be used for construction. He stated that Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI), a new parastatal in the ministry, has been conducting research on the product and found the project viable. The sand will be mixed with coal fly ash from Morupule Power Station and the installation and commissioning of a Blending Plant in Palapye.
Further, the depots for the production of these bricks will be built in localities where there is plenty of the sand, in places such as Gantsi and Tsabong. Desertification has always been a threat to this country and therefore using the sand to produce building materials is nothing but fantastic. We hope BITRI will do more research on whether roofing and floor tiles cannot be produced from the sand. We can bet, the research will be positive.
We call on other stakeholders to come on board once this project is up and running, particularly the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism. They should also conduct research on which plants can be planted in the Kgalagadi Desert to reduce, or reverse desertification. They can engage experts from other countries who specialise in the study of deserts and desertification.
We hope the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and tourism will not recommend plants that have caused havoc in that area, particularly the s’xanana plant, which the inhabitants curse every time they see it. They argue that the plant has brought more harm than good since it was imported from Australia with the main objective of fighting desertification.
We are confident that we have plenty of natural resources which have potential to improve our lives if we do research on how best we can utilise them. The advent of solar-powered streetlights cannot go unnoticed for the simple fact that solar energy is cheap and safe to use. We have plenty of sunlight throughout the year and it is a fact that if well utilised, this sunlight can run a power station that can provide energy for thousands of homes, as well as produce jobs.
We are confident that a collaboration between BITRI, Botswana Innovation Hub, and Botswana International University for Science and Technology has potential to do research that can even save us from the raging effects of climate change.
Who knows? Maybe a solution for climate change can be discovered by a Motswana, or the next world class innovator of the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs league will come from here! It is possible.
Today’s thought
'Changes call for innovation, and innovation leads to progress'.
– Li Keqiang