BB�s Parallel Probe At BCL Closure Most Welcome

Monitor Editor | Monday October 17, 2016 19:08

From the tone of their release, BB seem to doubt the reasons advanced for the closure of the BCL and Tati mines. 

In their statement, BB say they have appointed their own task team to look into the BCL and Tati Nickel mines in order to  be better informed when they suggest a way forward.

This is, notwithstanding the fact that government has already appointed a liquidator to advise on appropriate measures to be undertaken to stem the losses that have been incurred in recent times. BB make it clear that what drive them into this parallel action with the liquidator is their concern that the decision to close these mines will have implications on the wider business community in both Selebi -Phikwe and across Botswana.

We would like to commend the BB for instituting their own investigations. 

There is no doubt that the BCL and Tati mines closure have become a hot political potato, and where a matter has been hotly politicised like this one, often it is difficult for ordinary people to distinguish truth from fiction.

As such, a neutral entity such as BB’s decision to go to the bottom of the problem is what we all need to see and hear.In the same breath, we would like to urge BB to speed up and make the findings of their task team public as soon as they have completed their task.

Issues such as the debts of P3 billion to a South African mine, the cost of P8 billion to refurbish BCL machinery, the unpredictability of, or profitability of BCL, and many others associated with this controversy appear to have divided the opinions and it would be interesting to hear how they are explained from the neutral view and findings of a body such as BB.