22 Oct 2014

The acting Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Dr Gloria Somolekae, has said government’s stance is to see people of Ngamiland use resources in the region to improve their livelihoods.

Addressing kgotla meetings at Sehithwa and Toteng on October 21, Dr Somolekae refuted allegations that government intended to fence Lake Ngami to control fishing activities. Dr Somolekae who is also the Assistant Minister Health said the allegations were not true, adding that the government did not have plans to do so now or in future.

She said government’s intention was to have partnerships with the communities to sustain themselves.  Residents of both Toteng and Sehithwa raised concerns that they were unsettled by rumours that government was intending to fence Lake Ngami to hinder people from fishing, which was a source of their living.

The Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) manager, Ms Bingane Setume said government’s plan was to diversify the economy for communities around Lake Ngami to benefit.

Ms Setume said that led to the formation of the Lake Ngami Trust made from people from the six communities of Legothwane, Toteng, Bodibeng, Bothatogo, Kareng and Sehithwa.

The issue of the fence, she said, could be a misunderstanding of the issue of zoning of the lake, which would be addressed by the management plan to be executed by the trust.

Ms Setume said zoning was done for administrative purposes only, adding that Lake Ngami was to serve a co-existence purpose of fishing, arable farming, cattle rearing, bird tourism, and boat cruising.

The management plan, she noted, has projects to raise revenue and creation of employment to benefit the communities such as a lodge to be built between Legothwane and Bodibeng village.

Ms Setume said the lodge would be tendered for, noting that there would be boat stations and issuance of fishing licenses by the trust to raise revenue.

She said the management plan allowed co-existence to minimize conflicts for the locals, a system she said was practiced in other countries in Southern Africa. ENDS