05 Mar 2019

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Okavango Sub-district continues to receive reports of human wildlife conflict which is mainly sparked by elephants that damage crops.

Speaking at the ongoing sub-district council session, chairperson Mr Mbahahauka Kambimba said during the current quarter, 155 reports were recorded compared to 281 in the previous quarter. 

He said P1.2 million was paid to farmers as compensation during the quarter as compared to P2.6 million from the previous quarter.

He noted that the sub-district was granted P1.4 million for compensation this quarter.

On a different matter, it has been revealed that Water Utilities Corporation in the sub-district, in an effort to increase supply, has embarked on some projects to achieve its objective of keeping the water flowing for its customers. 

Mr Kambimba said the upgrading and rehabilitation of Shakawe water treatment plant, which commenced in May 2018 and expected to be complete in May this year, was at 25 percent complete against a planned progress of 58 per cent as at December 2018.

“The delay on this project was due to the re-designing of the master balancing reservoir which was initially in the river bank and encroaching on residential plots. Upon completion, the project will help in meeting the demand of the benefitting villages and settlements,” he said.

As an urgent relief to the critical water situation in the Gumare interconnection, Mr Kambimba said WUC was also relocating a treatment plant from Shakawe Senior Secondary School to Gumare booster station at Bodumatau. “This water treatment plant is capable of producing 28 000 litres of water per hour, which translates to 672 000 litres per day if operated 24 hours,” he said.

Mr Kambimba said the project was awarded last month while works were also expected to resume last month. ends