SPEDU tackles spectre of ghost town

ONALENNA MODIKWA
Staff Writer | Wednesday December 22, 2010 00:00

 

There have been calls to treat Selebi-Phikwe as a special case, hence considerable effort was concentrated on the mining town this year.  With the establishment of the Selebi-Phikwe Economic Diversification Unit, the town's economic prospects and opportunities have been identified.

More hope was restored to the town given the mine's ongoing exploration activities that have turned up more ore reserves, giving Selebi-Phikwe a new lease of life.  Many businesses that set up were mainly targeting the large number of workers that the mine employs.  Some companies also got the opportunity to be sub-contracted by the mine and in turn to employ more people.

At the beginning of the year, SPEDU held a major workshop from which it emerged that the region has a positive economic potential that can be harnessed for employment creation.  SPEDU has developed a six-year regional economic development strategy to improve the economic performance of the region, enhance the region's economic competitiveness and address market failures that prevent economic development, regeneration and business growth.

The unit was set up to spearhead the implementation of the economic regeneration programme of Selebi-Phikwe and its environs as well as secure its long-term survival beyond the mine closure.

The construction of several dams around Selebi-Phikwe, among them Dikgatlhong, Thune and Lotsane dams and the operational Letsibogo Dam offer a great opportunity for agribusiness and lodges.   Once operational, Dikgatlhong Dam stands to be a tourism destination by virtue of being the country's largest dam.

As part of efforts to diversify the town's economy from the mine and market its abundant tourism potential, the World Tourism Day commemorations were recently held here.  There is Tuli Block in Bobirwa, which offers a wide range of wildlife and several lodges.  Bobirwa region also has potential for quarrying that can be tapped into for the benefit of the local people.

Tswapong offers places of cultural interest in Maope and birdlife with a vulture colony in the Tswapong Hills gorges.  Another effort has been the opening of offices of the Botswana Tourism Board in Selebi-Phikwe.

To compliment all these efforts, people here now seem to fully understand the concept of diversifying the economy from the mine in that many women have engaged in informal sector businesses while the council has relaxed its laws to give them room to empower themselves economically.