Gaborone — The Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Development is implementing more than P1.2 billion worth of infrastructural projects which are at various stages of construction.

Minister Mmusi Kgafela said this when updating the nation on the ministry’s activities in response to COVID-19 on December 15.

Among the projects, he mentioned Shakawe and Moshupa primary hospitals, Maun General Hospital, Letlhakane and Ghanzi senior secondary schools, Maitengwe police station and Scottish Livingstone Hospital maintenance.

He said over and above ongoing projects, 19 others were at planning or pre-contract stage which had created an additional 129 jobs through engagement of consultants with a total consultancy fee of over P4 07.8 million.

Minister Kgafela noted that infrastructure development and maintenance had been identified among the sectors that could contribute to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The minister said the infrastructural projects were therefore in line with both the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063 and Botswana’s Vision 2036, he said.

Noting that infrastructure development and maintenance also had the ability to boost local economies and create jobs, he said the ministry was working on ways of expanding the job creation base in the construction sector.

Minister Kgafela explained that to that end, the ministry was promoting business models such as consortia and joint ventures between citizens and non-citizens as well as cooperatives among citizen-owned construction companies.”The intention being to not only benefit from skills transfer, but to also avail space for a larger number of participants to directly benefit from the jobs created in projects,” he stated.

Mr Kgafela said past efforts to award maintenance contracts to citizen contractors would now be bolstered, through the increase in projects targeted for unbundling and the reservation of all maintenance works for citizens.

This deliberate move, the minister said, would be testimony to government’s Citizen Economic Drive.

He said the ministry would also advocate for an increase in the reservation of Category E works for citizen contractors and the review of thresholds for reservation of works for citizen owned consultants.