16 Mar 2016

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ngami, Mr Thato Kwerepe has asked the government to quickly resolve the stoppage of fishing activities at Lake Ngami.

Speaking in Parliament during the debate of the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism budget proposal on Tuesday, Mr Kwerepe said the ban was affecting his constituents and that they have resorted to fishing at night in the lake which puts them at risk of getting killed by crocodiles.

He noted that the stoppage of fishing activities commenced last year after the ministry said it was carrying out an environmental impact assessment, but that they have not been informed of the results of the assessment.

“We were told that fishing activities will return this year, but nothing has happened. People have now resorted to fishing at night which is dangerous to their lives. The issue should be resolved quickly so that people can start fishing freely,” Mr Kwerepe said.

He said it was sad to see fish dying in the lake while people were hungry. 

 He also asked the Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism to address the issue of human- wildlife conflict in his constituency. He complained that some farmers who had their livestock killed by predators were yet to be compensated although a long time had passed. 

The MP for Palapye, Mr Moiseraela Goya suggested that the government should make more effort to help Batswana benefit more from tourism.

 He added that foreign businesses were benefitting more than citizen owned businesses at the moment. He also complained about the growing number of elephants, adding that they destroy people’s property.

The MP for Gaborone Bonnington South, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe urged the government to device a policy indicating the type of tourism it was targeting. He also called for more participation of Batswana in the tourism sector.

He warned that the increasing population of elephants was bad for the environment, adding that they would end up damaging many plant species. He urged the ministry to invest more on sewerage especially in high density, low income areas.

The MP of Gaborone South, Mr Kagiso Molatlhegi expressed worry that Botswana has failed to use natural resources for the economic benefit of rural communities.

 He said it was disturbing to see rural communities living in areas rich with natural resources such as Okavango and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) stricken by poverty.

Mmadinare MP, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila expressed concern about the amount of emission from the BCL Mine which continues to pollute the environment around Mmadinare. Ends