07 Jun 2018

Lake Ngami Conservation Trust chairperson, Ms Helmy Bokhutlo has said they are still waiting for a response from the ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism regarding their request to be allowed to continue with the charcoal production project at Lake Ngami.

She explained in an interview that they requested the waiver as the department of Environmental Affairs advised them to conduct Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before they could continue with the project and business had become standstill as ‘we have no funding to undertake the exercise despite the fact that we had already manufactured products,’ she added.

 Ms Bokhutlo said they had written to the ministry in February and were still awaiting feedback.

Further, the trust chairperson wished the ministry could consider the request, arguing that they had already completed EIA at Lake Ngami with the help of UNDP, adding that the charcoal project was carried out within the lake.

Ms Bokhutlo said the decision to stop production had impacted negatively on the Trust as they had already secured a lucrative market in Namibia.

UNDP also promised to construct a mini charcoal production factory for the Trust.

While waiting for the construction of a small charcoal production factory, the 20 beneficiaries who underwent training in Namibia did not sit on their skills, but continued with production.

The chairperson said they were at an advanced stage with their product as factors such as barcodes, packaging and branding were taken care of.

She believes that once the project commences, it would flourish and take the Trust and the communities to greater heights.

On other issues, Ms Bokutlo stated that there was no fishing at the lake due to low levels of water.

Every year around March government opens fishing season, but at the lake, there was no activity.

The Trust, she said, made efforts to update the communities about the situation, adding that once water level improves, they would open camp sites for beneficiaries.

However, she said some individuals were doing fishing at the lake for domestic purposes. ENDS