Times Of Swaziland: MAKE IT FLY!

MAKE IT FLY!
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BY Martin Dlamini is the Managing Editor of the Times of Swaziland on 07/03/2014 05:05:00


With the debate of the national budget underway in Parliament, early indications
are that Members of Parliament want more money for just about everything for the
people who voted them into office.
With government priorities going towards infrastructure development in the hope
it will put more people in jobs, albeit for short-term contracts for some,
social services like welfare grants are not due for an increase. Civil servants
are also not due for a pay rise this financial year.
Money this financial year will go towards paying for the free primary education
of our children, putting more people on ARVs, building more clinics,
constructing a convention centre and hotel, building institutional houses for
some civil servants and maintaining our security forces.
There’s no use throwing our hands in the air in despair if we don’t see
agriculture as the second-largest budget allocation. It appears we are
comfortable with importing 80 per cent of the food we eat - unless the Members
of Parliament change all that. It’s a good thing we will be constructing maize
silos and vegetable storage facilities, but filling them up provides an
interesting challenge; that of being able to feed ourselves first before we can
feed others.
There is no denying that exporting food can earn this country mega-bucks in
foreign revenue. Ask billionaire Natie Kirsh and he will tell you that his
multimillion food distribution franchise is what has contributed significantly
to earning him his rankings on the Forbes list of the world’s richest people.
We can’t go wrong with food, so long as we meet the health standards.
This means more investment in agricultural infrastructure, inputs and standards
training for our farmers. So far we have the dams; from Maguga up North to LUSIP
down South. The problem is, most irrigation serves the sugar industry for export
purposes. Another big dam in the Shiselweni region is earmarked for construction
in a few years to come. Hopefully this one will be intended for massive crop
production.
The country has certainly earned a reputation for being among the countries with
some of the best infrastructure in southern Africa. Local residents would
disagree these days, given all the potholes in the city, but the highways do the
talking for us. We are assured, at least, that no African president will use
Swaziland for an example of a bad road.
Reputation
The addition of Sikhuphe International Airport will enhance this infrastructural
reputation. It is a good profile to lure investors; no use complaining about why
it was built in the first place.  It is here now and our money was spent on it,
so we need to start expecting results from this huge investment. If we put E2
billion into an airport, we expect a return on investment to fly back, plus
profit to keep the facility running.
The tax from the revenue generated should be channelled towards improving our
rankings on the Human Development Index, where, sadly, we don’t enjoy as much
of a reputation as with our infrastructure.
In fact, we are very low on the benchmarks. It is obvious there is a disconnect,
which suggests we could be building before we plan what to do with it. This is
what needs to change as lack of infrastructure can never be an excuse for us
failing our people. Sikhuphe International Airport is targeted at tourism, trade
and job creation.
People expect that the linkage of the airport with all sectors of our economy
should have long been planned for and agreed on by the various stakeholders,
because multi-billion projects are built as a result of adequate research,
careful planning and logic.
The National Development Strategy (NDS), which is currently under review,
represents such planning in which national consultations are held and one vision
is formed.
The lack of implementation has no doubt been the country’s major downfall.
Good ideas go to waste and some people are now reluctant to participate in
dialogue forums because of this. This was decried in the ongoing NDS review
dialogues being conducted by the Smart partnership office and the Ministry of
Economic Planning.
It was also raised at the post-budget review seminar held yesterday. It is
proving costly for the country, too, as many social areas are sacrificed for
infrastructure development with the hope that they will derive some benefit from
the spin-offs.
Sikhuphe International Airport must, therefore, take off and fly for the sake of
all those who would have been the beneficiaries of over E2 billion worth of
taxpayers’money.