08 Sep 2019

The Umbrella for democratic Change (UDC) has promised to re-open the BCL mine if voted into power in the October 23 general election.

The party president, Advocate Duma Boko informed residents during the Selebi Phikwe West prospective parliamentary and council candidates launch on Saturday that re-opening the mine was at the top of the UDC agenda and would ensure regaining the 5 000 jobs lost as a result of the mine closure.

He said the UDC would further create 15 000 jobs in Selebi Phikwe which were also lost indirectly when other businesses were affected by the BCL mine closure.

“The first thing we will do after winning the general elections is to re-open the BCL mine,” stated Advocate Boko.

The UDC, he said would also improve the quality of education and would start by reducing the student/teacher ratio to only 25 students per teacher.

He said this would create 20 000 teaching vacancies which would be filled.

Every teacher he said would have an assistant.

UDC’s Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse who is also the immediate former member of parliament for the constituency will contest the parliamentary seat with Botswana Democratic Party’s, Mr Allen Lekwapa and Alliance for Progressives’,  Mr Maxwell Sesinyi.

Advocate Boko informed residents of Selebi Phikwe that Mr Keorapetse would serve in his cabinet if Batswana trusted the UDC with state power.

Leadership, Advocate Boko said was no easy task but said Mr Keorapetse was up for the challenge.

He said Mr Keorapetse fought with all his might in Parliament to have the BCL mine re-opened.

Commenting on the UDC’s relationship with the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), Mr Boko welcomed the support that his party was receiving from the BDP’s splinter party, adding that the two parties were in a cooperative competition.

For his part, Mr Keorapetse appealed to residents to vote for him, so that he could deliver on his promises.

Mr Keorapetse thanked God for giving him the strength and wisdom to represent the people of Selebi Phikwe well.

He also thanked his family, constituents and community for supporting him.

He called for the opening of a coal liquefaction plant and BIUST’s mining campus in Selebi Phikwe which he said would help resuscitate the economy of the former copper mining town.

Mr Keorapetse urged Advocate Boko to fashion SPEDU in a manner that it would create permanent jobs, if elected into power. ENDS