01 May 2013

Residents of Kasane have complained about the amount of compensation they receive from the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism whenever their fields and property are destroyed by animals.

The residents expressed their dissatisfaction at the ministry’s “Taking the ministry to the people” initiative event in Kasane recently. One of the residents, Mr Solomon Tshenyo said a portion of his farm was destroyed by elephants, but the compensation he received was too small to repair the damage.

“Even the assessment is not fair, I had my fence vandalised by elephants and the estimated damage was P10  500 but I only qualified for about P300 in compensation,” he said.

Responding to their concerns, the acting Deputy Permanent Secretary for the ministry, Ms Thekisego Colledge said animals such as elephants would be compensated a full 100 per cent of the damage but that this was still in the pipeline as guidelines were still being formulated.

One of the concerns raised was that sewage waste was being pumped right into the Chobe River by neighbouring lodges, contaminating the water and the environment.

Ms Colledge said they were attending the problem as there is a Kazungula-Kasane sewerage project in progress, which is expected to be completed in 2015.

“The project is 36 per cent complete, but in the mean time, there are supposed to be temporary measures to take care of the situation and avoid sewage contaminating water in the river. If this is not happening then it goes against the environmental assessment we had agreed to and appropriate action must be taken.” She said.

The objective of the event was to familiarise residents with the ministry’s operations, mandate and policies. ENDS