Botswana: Airport Debate Won't Take Off Yet

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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)

5 August 2008
Posted to the web 5 August 2008

Bame Piet

Members of Parliament (MPs) were yesterday still grappling with the section of the Finance and Audit Act under which they are supposed to debate the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport Upgrading and Expansion Project (Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)) (Loan Ratification) Bill.

The Bill seeks to ratify an agreement entered into between the Botswana government and Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), based in Sudan, for the purpose of facilitating the financing, in part, of the upgrading and expansion of Sir Seretse Khama International Airport.

The debate on the loan was adjourned last week when Assistant Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Guma Moyo, could not explain what Section of the Finance and Audit Act was to guide the House on the matter.

MP for Lobatse, Nehemiah Modubule, had then queried the Section of the Act under which they were debating the loan agreement.

Moyo tried to convince Parliament yesterday that it was Section 4 of the Finance and Audit Act that should guide the legislators on their deliberations. Leader of Opposition, Otsweletse Moupo, adopted Modubule's stance that the House was in the dark over which section of the Act should guide them.

He said that the debate could continue to avoid delaying the project. However, Modubule was adamant that the debate should not continue until the matter was cleared.

Moyo's boss, Baledzi Gaolathe, who was not in the House when the debate was halted last week, explained that the section was unimportant because "it is always the duty of Parliament to approve loans of such nature".

Modubule called for an adjournment last week to give Moyo time to go and confirm, which section of the Finance and Audit Act should guide the House. Yesterday, the House adjourned for tea with the matter still pending.

Earlier on, some MPs supported the Bill saying the expansion of SSKI will benefit Botswana. They welcomed the fact that big aircraft, will land and take off at the airport, thereby helping to improve the country's economic performance.

MP for Tswapong South, Oreeditse Molebatsi, was of the view that the Integrated Transport Policy was very important for Botswana to avoid situations where important transport projects were done separately.

MP for Ngwaketse West, Mephato Reatile, had called for a bigger airport than the envisaged expansion, saying Botswana is lagging behind when compared to South Africa.

MP for Palapye, Master Goya said in its current state the airport is not fit to be classified as international.

The expansion project is estimated to cost over P400 million in the construction of a state-of -the-art terminal building and expansion of the runway from 3,000m to 4,000m.

The terminal building will accommodate at least 450 people. Parliament needs to approve the P124 million BADEA loan.

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