17 Aug 2016

Residents of Mababe in Ngamiland have asked  government to allocate them NG40 concession, which is part of the Chobe National Park.

They made the plea during a kgotla meeting addressed by the Minister of Lands and Housing, Mr Prince Maele recently.

 They said the village’s trust had long requested the concession and they were assured by the department of wildlife and national parks that their request would be considered.

Kgosi Montle Kebualemang said the request was made in 2001 and were informed that they would be allocated the piece of land.

He said residents desperately needed the land to use it for tourism projects. “We need the land urgently than any other time more so that   government encourages communities to venture into sustainable projects to create employment for others,” he added.

The village Development committee chairperson, Mr Molatlhegi Matsamo, shared the same sentiments noting that it was almost nine years waiting to be allocated the said concession.

He said the concession was the only treasure and hope for the villagers to create jobs and earn a living. He also revealed that the place was not taken care of and had turned into a sleeping place for wild dogs.

Mr Matsamo said they intended to protect the area and look after it  to avoid poaching adding that they have also a line up of tourism projects such as constructing a cultural village, campsite, and a lodge.

He said since they were promised the area, Botswana Tourism Organization informed them about the new system of zooning of which they did all the required procedure and were promised to be given terms of reference until to date.

Kgosi Kebualemang also requested that their lease for NG41 be changed to photographic tourism as currently they are not benefiting from it. He said NG41 was leased to a safari company as hunting concession for many years but since the hunting ban the community is not benefiting.

He explained that before hunting ban, they used to generate P3 million a year adding that the ban has affected their coffers and their plan to develop their village.

“Now the lease is not working for us and it is near completion. We made efforts to convince the investor that we build a lodge but he refused because he wanted security of tenure. We request that the lease be abolished and we want a new lease so that we could construct a lodge and create jobs for the communities,” he added.

Kgosi Kebualemang said the community was suffering from poverty and currently the only hope for the villagers was ipelegeng programme, which he said was temporary and could not sustain people's lives.

For his part, Mr Maele assured residents that he would inform the relevant minister about the issue who would see how best to assist them. 

He explained that the concessions were under the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism but assured them that he would discuss the issue with his cabinet colleague, adding that lands ministry had no problem with the allocation of the NG40.

He also appreciated that the lease for NG41 was not benefiting the community as expected since the license was for hunting. ENDS