31 Mar 2016

Chobe District has recorded a malaria related death this month from 41 malaria infection cases recorded to date.   The deceased was a Nata Senior Secondary School student.  

Giving a District Development Committee (DDC) report during the opening of the Chobe District Council, economic planner, Mr Kagiso Tsele noted that of the 41 reported cases, nine were of people from outside Botswana.

“Supplementary spraying was carried out in selected areas such as Parakarungu, Pandamatenga, Kavimba and Satau to try and scale up the level of coverage,” he said.

Still on the issue, Chobe District Council chairperson, Mr Mwanota Kachana said a dismal indoor residual spraying (IRS) coverage of 46 per cent in last year’s spraying season (October - Decemebr 2015) was achieved.

“Out of 9 963 rooms that were envisaged for spraying, the spray team could not access 4 555 rooms due to refusals,” he said. With the trend, malaria elimination would not be achieved by the envisaged 2018 deadline, he added.

“Parakarungu which recorded 39 per cent of the IRS is the most affected with 11 cases,” he highlighted. Of the nine imported cases, four were from Zambia, three from South Africa while Namibia and Zimbabwe each had one case.

“Botswana is geared to eliminate malaria by the end of 2018 and this can only be achieved if the IRS coverage is maintained each year at 90 per cent and above,” he added.

Updating the house on the Kasane/Kazungula re-development plan, Mr Kachana noted that the company tasked with developing guidelines and standards to facilitate the implementation of the project has submitted the draft design report.

He noted that the report was approved with conditions because the submission fell short of addressing the client’s vision of positioning the area as the first tourism destination of choice.

“The consultancy which was expected to complete on the 3rd March 2016 will now end on the 3rd April this year,” he added. On a positive note, Mr Kachana announced that following complaints about the unharmonised fishing regulations between Botswana and Namibia, the

Department of Wildlife and National Parks engaged the Namibian Fisheries Department to harmonise its fishing regulations and that the attempt was successful.

“As part of the harmonisation process the Namibian government amended its fishing regulations to include closed fishing season that starts from the beginning of December to the end of February,” he said adding that the amendment was implemented in line with Botswana’s closed fishing season. ENDS