Controversial officiating saves Chiefs

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Friday January 22, 2010 00:00

 

The government of Botswana had no choice but to shoulder the P48 million burden, at the insistence of the Diamond Hub, which had identified the project as one of the five urgent and critical components of the fledgling Botswana diamond industry, as Botswana attempts to position itself as a reputable world diamond centre.

Debswana MD Blackie Marole confirmed in a phone interview yesterday that the project was one of the first to be deferred by his company when they reviewed all their expenses last year following the world economic recession which also hit hard on diamond sales.

'We would love to see it completed, yes, conceived it so long ago. It is an important project for us but we had to prioritise our expenditure. At some stage the (diamond) Hub took it over', Marole explained.

According to the founding coordinator of Diamond Hub, Dr Akolang Tombale, the Debswana project, a diamond handling facility, entailed constructing a security system which will ensure that diamonds transported to the airport are well guided with sophisticated cameras and other security features erected along the road up to the airport where they would be collected by planes.

Tombale said although Debswana chose to defer it, the Diamond Hub saw security as one of the key factors that would define Botswana's dream of becoming a successful diamond centre.

Last year Debswana was forced to defer a number of projects as cost cutting measures as the recession hit, reducing Botswana's earnings from diamonds quite drastically.

Debswana also had to close some of its mining operations in the North, as well as cutting production by over 50 percent. They have since re-opened the mines, and slightly increased production, as demands for diamonds are once again picking world wide, although industry experts do not anticipate full recovery until after 2010.