GENERAL NEWS
From the MD ’ s desk
It is not often that one can announce three fairly important news events in one newsletter , but these have been a long time in the making and have just come to fruition all at once .
By Brett Marlin
The second new development is the completion of the solar installation at Mashatu Terrace in the new CBD . This is where Bank Gaborone , First Capital Bank and Huawei have their head offices . The solar installation is going to mean that the vast majority of electrical requirements during the day is going to be supplied by renewable resources .
We have for some time been trying to devise a long-lasting way of assisting the local residents in the areas where we are developing . Yes , we are going to be employing local labour in the construction of our developments , but these people already have skills and even though they are getting paid for the work they do , there is extremely limited skills transfer and long-lasting benefit to them .
As you may be aware from our project updates in this issue , we have started with the construction of our Teemane Retail Centre in Letlhakane . This has given us the opportunity to make a real difference .
We will be employing three youths from the area , who will be working on site under the main contractor to learn all aspects of construction . They are going to start with setting out , moving onto excavations , then brickwork and concrete and will be working with the contractor ’ s foreman to get a grasp on all aspects of the construction process . We have agreed with our electrical , structural steel and mechanical subcontractors that they will be seconded to them for a few weeks to train in the other more specialised trades .
On completion of the project , we are hoping that we will be able to employ at least one of these trainees to work at the centre doing all the ongoing maintenance . Those that are not employed at the centre may be able to go out and start their own construction / maintenance businesses and at worst , if they do not stay in the construction business , they would have at least gained some knowledge , skills and hopefully a good work ethic .
We can go online and see the building electrical requirements , what is being provided by solar and what is being drawn off the grid . As I write this , at 10:45am , the situation is : Building requirement 132.22 kW ( kilowatt ) Solar production 114.17 kW Required from the grid 18.16kW
From this you can see that we have reduced the power requirement and are supplying 86 % of the power needed . It really is quite gratifying . This is only going to get better when we get to the hotter times of the year in summer and when the days are longer . This installation is also going to help us with our final submission for a ‘ Green Star ’ rating for the building . Hopefully , we will be able to report in the next newsletter that we have received the first ‘ As Built ’ rating in Botswana .
The third highlight for us is achieving the first ‘ 5 Star Design ’ rating in Botswana . We achieved this for our latest office building development , Prime Plaza in the CBD , that we are developing for PrimeTime . We have always strived to be market leaders in property development in Botswana and hopefully this will help keep us ahead of the pack .
We will be having a presentation and handover of the plaque to PrimeTime in the next few weeks and we will highlight this in the next issue . Our next goal is to get the ‘ As Built ’ rating , which involves far more practical issues such as recycling of the construction waste , sourcing local materials , using recycled steel and opting for more eco-friendly materials such as paints and adhesives . We are really proud to have taken this first big step in becoming the leaders of the green movement in Botswana .
ABOUT TIME , the quarterly newsletter of Time Projects Editor : Brett Marlin
Managing editor : Faye-Marie Cloete Email : faye @ novacomms . net Cell : + 267 7137 6232
Contributors : Kagiso Sebetso , Mmika Selei , Heinrich Malan , Michael Hughes , John Kelly , Rory Watson , Tapiwa Modise
Tel : + 267 395 6080 | Fax : + 267 390 0160 | Email : time @ time . co . bw | Website : www . time . co . bw
ABOUT TIME is published on behalf of Time Projects by Nova Communications ( Pty ) Ltd . The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and people interviewed and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor , publisher or Time Projects . While all precautions have been taken to ensure accuracy of information , the editors and publisher cannot accept responsibility for any inaccuracies which may inadvertently have occurred .
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ISSUE 46 - JUNE 2021