"The Budget does not come out with new things, but (is meant) to implement what is in development plans," Serwalo Tumelo said. People often complain that the Budget has nothing new, and "they are right because it is not the intended purpose. "Tumelo said making money available every financial year is meant to address projects already approved by Parliament.
Tumelo defended Government on poor implementation of projects, saying the blame should go to the private sector. "As you are aware, Government does not own a single construction company," he pointed out. Pointing fingers at public officers whenever a project is behind schedule "is wrong". Tumelo said the private sector, through the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM), should ensure that project implementation is done as scheduled. Contributing to the debate, BOCCIM's pro Tebogo Rapitsenyane said the business community is quiet happy with the 2008/09 Budget, "but we are worried by the (new) challenge the country is facing, that of power outages". BOCCIM is also disturbed by poor project implementation. He recommended cultivation of a good working relationship between Government and theprivate sector as one way of addressing the problem.He cited Government's review of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) as another way of "speeding up project implementation and saving money for the government".
