A splendid day for Kgalagadi!

| Wednesday September 29, 2010 00:00

Save for the technical hitches that prevented President Ian Khama to officially open the road, the people of Kgalagadi should have been happy all the same.

Everywhere in the country, a 257 kilometre tarred road is something to be celebrated.  Even moreso when the road connects an underdeveloped area such as Kgalagadi to the rest of the country.

Compared to most regions in the country, there is no doubt that Kgalagadi has been lagging behind in communication infrastructure.  This road links the villages of Kgalagadi and it will promote trade and commerce between communities.

Given the sandy conditions in the area it has always been impossible to traverse the area using ordinary transport.  The only people who could access these areas were those who used four-by-four trucks or people travelling by air.

As a result of transport challenges, communities living in these parts were almost excommunicated from the rest of Botswana.  Although the Bokspits areas have a great potential in tourism, these communities were deprived of such benefits due to impassable roads.

We believe this road will open up an important tourism channel into and out of the country.  In addition, this road could also be used to link Western Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.

Residents of Kgalagadi who own a significant portion of the national herd will now be able to sell their cattle to the Botswana Meat Commission.  They will escape the disadvantages of selling to small butcheries and middle men who buy to resell.

The many options will lead to poverty reduction and an improvement in the quality of life.

Government should be commended for embarking on this project.  It was not an easy project given the unavailability of good soils in the area and the acute shortage of water.  The construction of this road was a major achievement and it has now added another route to the national highways and this can only mean that we are slowly developing the infrastructure. 

Business Council

We should thank BOCCIM and the business community in Botswana for continuing the discussion on the state of our economy in the form of annual business councils.  This year, another important business council meeting took place in Francistown where captains of the industry and economists discussed the challenges of our economy.

Naturally, the financial meltdown and its effects on the mineral led economy came under discussion. Most importantly, the urge and the passion to move away from the diamond dominated economy was underscored. We have hope that out of these meetings, a codified strategy on efforts to diversify our economy will emerge. Since our experts know what the solution to our problems are, it is important that the impediments to implementing the strategy should as well be identified and removed.

                                                                  Today's thought

                   'It is time to review and evaluate our current strategies and policies.'

                                                          -President Ian Khama