23 May 2019

Coordinator of the Kasane/ Kazungula Re-development Plan, Mr Jobe Ofetotse says the project has increased its scope to cover the entire Kasane and Kazungula instead of the riverfront portion only.

Addressing Chobe District full council meeting on May 21, Mr Ofetotse said the scope of services would include undertaking of Tourism Studies, Spatial Planning and Urban Design, Environmental and Infrastructure Planning, Investment Planning and Action Planning in order to produce an Integrated Destination Master Plan.

He told councillors that the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) had been appointed as technical advisors on the project.

Mr Ofetotse said to pave way for the project, government properties along the riverfront and some residential properties in Kazungula and Kgaphamadi would be relocated.

He explained that consultation with all affected ministries had been done and they had submitted their preference for relocations.

In addition, he noted that most of them suggested to be relocated near the current Rural Administration Centre (RAC) to avoid inconveniences in service delivery for the public.

Mr Ofetotse said following the suggestion, a proposal of creating a government enclave around the RAC was being considered subject to approval by the leadership.

Regarding the relocation of residential property, Mr Ofetotse clarified that in Kazungula if the residents accept the proposal, the valuation of their properties would commence immediately together with surveying of the new plots and allocation of the same, while in Kgaphamadi valuations would await project completion.

He said for Kazungula, a solution had been found for relocating residential properties affected by the proposed road upgrades in Old Kazungula and the proposal involves subdivision and change of use of part of the open spaces in Newstance.

He said a total of 29 plots had been realised and he asked the district leadership to engage the affected residents on the proposal promptly.

In Kgaphamadi, Mr Ofetotse said the Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services had not realised significant progress in the area.

He said consultations to find alternative solution were on-going and initial meetings with district and the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism leadership had already been held.

Mr Ofetotse told the councillors that the finalisation of development guidelines and standards of the project had been completed and awaiting approval by the relevant minister in terms of the Town and Country Planning Act.

During comments and questions, the council chairperson, Mr Paul Chabaesele appreciated the progress of the project and called for the speedy engagement of all private property owners to suspend all anticipated developments.

Councillor Boitumelo Kanyetu of Plateau appreciated the project and suggested that the Chobe Farm should also be relocated.

Councillor Abraham Sitali of Kazungula Newstance expressed concern that the implementation of the project had been suspended for too long, a thing that he said denied residents opportunities to carry out developments. ENDS