More airlines coming to Botswana

At least nine international airlines have shown interest in doing business in Botswana and some of them are ready to start operations before the end of the year, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Frank Ramsden told Parliament on Monday.

He said that Botswana has signed eight Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA) with Belgium, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe. "The ninth with Qatar will be signed on April 12, 2011. We also have a memoranda of understanding with Angola, Egypt,Ethiopia, Germany, France, Netherlands, Pakistan, Tanzania and United Arab Emirates,"he said.

Ramsden stated that BASAs are intended to create a conducive environment for attracting more operators, including major airlines that will link Botswana with major destinations in the world. He said that Air Botswana is working on re-registering with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) by end of this year. The airline was de-registered after it failed to comply with IATA audit, safety and human resource requirements. "In preparation for re-fleeting, the airline has identified new routes locally and most of the regional capitals and a few overseas destinations. Air Botswana lost P45 million in 2009-2010. The anticipated loss for 2010-2011 is around P23 million," Ramsden said.

Outlining some of the major projects his ministry intends to undertake this year, he explained that the construction of the much-talked-about Kazungula Bridge will start before the end of the year. "The signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to facilitate building of a railway line joining the three countries will be signed on April 15, 2011 in Maputo," he said. He stated that the Central Transport Organisation (CTO), which was allocated over 40 percent of the budget in his ministry sold 538 vehicles last year bringing P21 million into government coffers.

The loss-making Botswana Railways is going to purchase 160 wagons and fuel tankers to meet growing demand for commodities such as salt, soda ash and coal. "Botswana Railways (BR) continues to make operating losses.

The semi-audited Income Statement for 2009/10 indicates a net loss of P20.7 million that is equal to the organisation's operating losses, attributed to the overhaul of locomotives, wagons including fuel and wagon hire," he said.

He added that BR intends to build a major wagon and locomotive maintenance and repairs workshop during the 2011-2012 financial year. "A temporary dry port is being established in Palapye to service developments such as the construction of Morupule B Power Station, the BIUST and the glass factory. Continuation of this port is being considered to service the glass factory operations and leverage other industries beyond construction phase," said Ramsden.

Meanwhile, the minister announced that government has adopted a system of re-sealing roads that have exceeded their life-span such as the Boatle-Gaborone road instead of re-constructing them. He said the Btv and Molapo crossing traffic circles are going to be replaced with overhead bridges during the 2011-2012 financial year.

By late last evening, MPs had finished debating the budget and a majority of them called for re-introduction of passenger train, which was halted in April 2009.

Source: Mmegi Online