08 Jul 2020

Shorobe Community Development Trust is pinning its hope on the successful implementation of the charcoal production and construction of two camp sites to boost its financial muscle.

The trust, which has long been formed, has never operated as expected because it was financially crippled.

In an interview with BOPA, the trust chairperson, Mr Itekeng Sondane stated that plans were underway to construct two camp sites as they had received financial assistance from Conservation Trust Fund (CTF).

CTF assists communities with funding to come up with initiatives aimed at preserving natural resources, while making a living from them.

He said the trust had received over P900 000 to kick start the construction of the camp sites, but stated that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) exercise had delayed the commencement of the project.

In addition, he stated that efforts were at advanced stage to start  the charcoal project, as currently, about 14 beneficiaries from Shorobe had been trained in charcoal production courtesy of UNDP.

Mr Sondane said they were waiting for the Department of Forestry and Range Resources to assess and grant them permission to use the trees in their surroundings, as UNDP had procured three kilns for charcoal manufacturing.

Once all the logistics are  finalised, he said the project would start, adding that the communities had also availed their ploughing fields to be cleared and trees used to sustain the project.

“We are optimistic that both projects will be successful and create employment for the betterment of our communities,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme coordinator under the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Boatametse Modukanele accompanied by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) from Maun, recently visited the trust to appreciate the challenges that delayed the camp sites project, since they had long received the financial assistance from CTF.

During the meeting, Mr Modukanele learnt that the trust had engaged a consultant to conduct EIA, while submission of the drawing plans for the camp site infrastructure was a challenge.

It was also reported that the trust was negotiating with two investors who had showed interest to do business with it and that the board had long written to Botswana Tourism Organisation to come and assess the said companies to see if they were suitable to partner with.

After a lengthy discussion, the trust resolved to advertise their concessions to attract more investors.

Since the trust had not finalised negotiations with any company, board members welcomed the model of expression of interest, saying it would help them to select the best investor.

Mr Modukanele assured the trust that the ministry would take care of the advertising exercise and requested the trust to fast track collection of quotations for drawing plans and submit them.

He explained that government was committed to assisting all community trusts that had been funded to undertake tourism projects as they had high hopes that the industry would bounce back next year.

He encouraged the trust management to up its game as the intention was to see the camp sites being operational by the end of the year.

The trust was also advised to follow up the consultant, who had been engaged to conduct the EIA to submit all relevant documents for approval. Ends