07 Jul 2019

Government has taken a decision to give Kasane a facelift to become a fully-fledged tourism hub.

 Chobe Land  Board Chairperson, Mr Johane Chenjekwa said this during a press conference in Francistown recently.

The Kasane/ Kazungula re-development plan, he explained, has had its scope amended from the original plan.

The land board chairperson  explained that initially the project scope was found to be ambiguous. “At first we wanted to develop a green city and we envisaged the project being spearheaded by an agency. However, this did not materialise,” he mentioned.

When the project was initiated, Mr Chenjekwa noted that individuals who were identified for relocation had their properties assessed so that they could be relocated to Nyungwe.

Consequently, he added, that a contractor was appointed to service the new area where they were supposed to be settled.

However, he said that the contractor failed to deliver the project in September 2018. He said land allocations in the Chobe district had to respond to conflict between humans and wildlife.

 This is due to the uniqueness of the district as a large portion of land is reserved for wildlife and natural resources conservation.

Mr Chenjekwa noted that 74 per cent of the land had been left for conservation purposes while only 24 per cent was tribal land which had to be shared for residential and commercial purposes.

 In the conservation areas, he highlighted, was the Chobe National Park and six forest reserves. Mr Chenjekwa explained that despite this, wild animals due to their increasing population still left their habitat to compete with people.

Currently, the board chairperson explained that the Minister for Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Kitso Mokaila had recommitted to resuscitating the project which would be coordinated by two ministries of lands and environment.

Mr Chenjekwa explained that since many things happened after the last assessment and valuation of properties, the process had to be re-visited.  “The scope of the project has also increased to include the outskirts of Kazungula and the moratorium which has been put in place to cease any developments has been lifted,” he said.

 He explained that the plan, best captured the district’s dreams and aspirations to transform into a tourism hub.  In addition,  Mr Chenjekwa asserted that a shoreline strategy was in the offing and was spearheaded by the district council in partnership with Vanesborg Municipality in Sweden. The strategy, he highlighted, was meant to address the issue of riverfront accessibility by the general public as well as further uplift Kasane. The shoreline strategy, he noted, also included constructing pedestrian walkways towards the river .He said this would involve consultations with some owners whose property made accessing the river difficult. He indicated that where possible, the would be compensation.

“We also intend to construct community swimming pools, cable car from plateau and Kgaphamadi, a floating restaurant and picnic areas,” Mr Chenjekwa explained. He highlighted that this process was not going to be easy but noted that the rule of law would be followed, especially on issues that were of interest to the community. On other issues, he mentioned that a coordinator for the Kasane/Kazungula re-development plan had been appointed and had already started work.

The land board, he said, had availed land to the youth as a way of fighting unemployment. Under the Special Economic Zones (SEZ), he added that they had allocated a further 30 000 hectares of land to expand the current farms.

 He explained that Pandamatenga  had been identified as a SEZ and the land board was working round the clock to ensure that the industrialization process of the agricultural sector begins in the area.

He also talked about the allocation of concessions that had been returned to the lands ministry after being transferred to the tourism ministry.

Concessions allocation, he noted, would give priority to communities in line with President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s roadmap that natural resources should benefit local people.

 Furthermore, he said reforms on change of land use had seen some Batswana taking advantage. However, he noted that Chobe was a fragile area which required systematic land allocations.

For his part, the Chobe Land Board Secretary, Mr Kealeboga Kemoreile mentioned that when the Kasane re-development project was muted at inception it was expected to cost around P55 million to deliver. Consequently, he said that the contractor who failed to deliver the land servicing project was terminated by the ministry following due processes.

He said the P84 million Nyungwe project which was supposed to take twelve months was never delivered as per the contract. ENDS