Various interventions were mooted, some of which never took-off. On Tuesday, we reported that President Ian Khama promised Selebi-Phikwe residents that an ARV manufacturing plant will be set up in the mining town. The investment will create at least 1,000 jobs as the company invests an initial P210 million. The news is welcome, but it must be taken with a pinch of salt considering what has happened in the past and the fact that elections are around the corner. For example, where is the P200 million College of Applied Arts, which was supposed to be constructed in Selebi-Phikwe in 2007? The government should stop paying lip service when it is evident that the country's third largest urban settlement is facing collapse.
Selebi-Phikwe became a special case after the realisation that BCL mine, the lifeblood of the town's economy, faced possible closure as ore reserves were getting depleted.Initially, it was forecast that the mine would not last beyond 2008, but through exploration for new ore, the life span was extended to 2013.
