10 Mar 2019

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, has called on parents to contribute to the education of their children.

Responding to a comment raised by one resident that the two secondary schools in the district were in a bad state and had shortage of furniture and equipment, Dr Masisi concurred that almost all schools in the country were in bad state.

He, however, said parents should also ensure that the upbringing of their children was proper because some of the infrastructure was in a bad state due vandalism.

He condemned men who deserted their children, saying that on its own impacted negatively on the emotional development of children. 

Dr Masisi said the responsibility of educating children should not be left to teachers alone, but parents should also play their role and show interest in their children’s education.

He assured the residents that government would continue to play its duty of availing funds to the schools, adding that the commitment was already indicated by having the education ministries getting the lion’s share of the national budget.

On human/wildlife conflict, Dr Masisi said government would not banish organisations such as Elephant Without Borders, as requested by one resident because government respected the rule of law.

He said government would not be intimidated to respond to opinions and all false accusations by these organisations. 

For his part, Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila said there was no buffer zone between some of the plots that were allocated in the early 1970s and the Chobe River since the current act was not in place.

Mr Mzwinila said negotiations with the owners of such plots were ongoing for them to create a buffer zone as part of the implementation of the Sustainable Shoreline Strategy. 

He, however, said should negotiations fail, his ministry had authority to expropriate, adding that he was however, hopeful that, that stage would not be reached.

He further explained that in 2015, Parliament decided on the one person one plot policy, therefore all those who were in the land allocation waiting lists but already had plots would not be allocated.

Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Kitso Mokaila said the Kasane/Kazungula Re-Development Plan and the Sustainable Shoreline Strategy will be merged as all of them recommend for creation of the animal corridor on the river bank.

He further said the Kasane/Kazungula Re-Development Plan implementation was delayed due to the sluggish land servicing at Nyungwe by the contractor, hence the delay in the relocation of Kgaphamadi residents.

He said one of the recommendations by the cabinet sub-committee on lifting of the hunting ban was that compensation for destruction by wild animals should be re-visited to address the current disparities.

Minister of Transport and Communications, Ms Dorcas Makgato, told the residents that the new transport regulations on driver training, which come into effect on April 1, were aimed at ensuring preservation of lives from the increasing road accidents and not to punish driving school operators.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Kasane deputy court president, Kgosi Tshegofatso Samoka, commended government for developments such the Kazungula Bridge.

Kgosi Samoka requested for the Kachikau/Shorobe road to be tarred to reduce the distance between Kasane and Maun.

The VDC chairperson, Mr David Chika decried the human/wildlife conflict in Kasane. 

He said although the Plateau Kgotla was new, its fence was already damaged by the elephants, while the day before the kgotla meeting, an expectant mother was nearly injured by a buffalo.

He called on the government to speed up implementation of the recommendations on the lifting of the hunting ban.

Meanwhile, he indicated that implementation of the Sustainable Shoreline strategy will be frustrated by the plots that are already on the river bank. 

Ms Rosinah Chibeya revealed that her sister was injured by a buffalo and was not compensated although she is no longer capable of working. 

She also complained that she was denied a second plot despite having been in the waiting list for several years.

Mr Edison Ramonkga, who is a small scale farmer in Pandamatenga, complained about the disparities in compensating commercial and subsistence farmers for destruction by wild animals. 

Mr David Kamwi complained that while the government compensates for day old calves when killed by lions, unborn calves are not compensated for. ENDS