26 Nov 2014

The lands and housing minister, Mr Prince Maele says 59 farmers at Semowane are grazing their livestock within land allocated to Nata Bird Sanctuary.

He told Parliament on November 24 that none of those farmers had exclusive rights in the form of boreholes within the sanctuary.

He said Nata Sanctuary did not fence off all their land after allocation in 1991, resulting with Semowane farmers continuing to graze and water their livestock within the sanctuary area.

“My ministry has not put in place any measures to identify new grazing and water points for farmers as our position is that the farmers should do that for themselves,” Mr Maele explained.

He said efforts to reduce the boundary of the sanctuary to provide more grazing and water resources for the farmers failed following a High Court ruling in April 2014.

The MP for Nata Mr Paulson Majaga had asked the assistant minister to state the number of farmers in Semowane affected by the expansion of the sanctuary, and measures put in place to find new grazing and water points for them. ENDS