27 Mar 2019

The Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust (OKMCT) has embarked on a number of projects to improve the livelihoods of communities.

The community projects are in line with the mandate of the Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBRNM) policy, which promotes assistance and improvement of the lives of communities residing in wildlife management areas.

The trust covers the six settlements of Ditshiping, Boro, Xharaxao, Xuoxao, Daunara and Xaxaba, and it offers tourism products and services in a controlled hunting area known as NG32 situated in the Okavango Delta.  In an interview, the trust manager, Mr Seikanyeng Moepedi confirmed that they had embarked on several community projects which included housing of the needy, drilling and equipping of boreholes in the six settlements.

He said they have constructed two houses in each settlement, adding that “each yard will get a one-roomed house and a pit latrine.”

The trust, he said, aimed to improve housing conditions for beneficiaries as they believed that shelter was a fundamental human right which brought dignity.

He said the houses would also provide safety as the beneficiaries lived in wildlife areas, and also protected them from unfavourable weather conditions.

Mr Moepedi revealed that most of the beneficiaries were elderly people.

He also revealed that three safari companies that trade in their concession area, Johane Calizt Hunting Safaris, Sanctuary Retreats and Silver Spears have donated 12 beds and that each beneficiary would get one.

With regard to water, he said they intended to drill new boreholes and equip existing ones to ensure the community enjoyed clean potable water, revealing that access to drinking water has been a challenge as residents fetched water from the river. Currently, the trust has completed drilling a borehole at Xaxaba and is in the process of buying equipment to the tune of P83 000.

Mr Moepedi further explained that the North West District Council would equip the borehole and assist with water reticulation and also establish water points where the community would access water.  He said the council would assist the community through constituency funding as the project had been allocated P200 000.

He said another borehole at Xharaxao would benefit from the funding, and that it was expected to supply water to Tsutsubega and Gorokwe.

Mr Moepedi said they experienced a challenge with a borehole at Daunara as it has salty water, but stated that residents would fetch water from the nearby settlement of Morootsha.

Another project in the pipeline is the development of a piece of land at Xuoxao, which would be used for farming as a way of diversifying from natural resources.

The trust manager said they had acquired land and funding was ready to service it, adding that the trust had also secured land along Sedie ward in Maun in which they intended to build trust offices to save the P18 000 per month it has been paying as rental.

Mr Moepedi noted that once the offices were complete, the rental money would be channeled to community projects. ENDS