26 Aug 2020

Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Ms Phildah Kereng says her ministry in partnership with the relevant stakeholders has developed an interim guideline for the use of dams whilst awaiting the implementation of management plan for Letsibogo dam and completion of management plan for Dikgatlhong dam.

Responding to a question in Parliament  on Tuesday, the minister explained that the guidelines were intended at promoting the use of dams as well as travel to the respective dams for various leisure activities.

Ms Kereng said Letsibogo dam tourism master plan was  being implemented with an Expression of Interest (EOI) for investors to take up the opportunities presented in the master plan to be published by August 28.

She noted that an event dubbed Letsibogo Triathlon was scheduled in 2020 in an effort to promote local tourism, but was deferred to March next year due to COVID-19 restrictions on public events.

She said the tourism development strategies around Letsibogo dam which could also be adopted for Dikgathong dam were as outlined in the Tourism Master Plan, adding that the strategies included identification and reservation of sites to communities as well as the determination of facilities and activities that could be conducted within the dam environs.

Furthermore, she said her ministry through the Community Based Natural Resources Management Program- CBNRM and the district authorities was in the process of mobilising the community adjacent to Dikgatlhong to form a community trust and capacitate them on tourism initiatives and uptake of the various opportunities while Botswana Tourism Organization-(BTO) would facilitate the commercial aspects.

The minister explained that the commercialisation could be through a Joint Venture Partnership with a private investor, or the community operating the site on their own.

Ms Kereng said BTO would provide strategic direction and support  for the operation, so as to safeguard the interests of the community in the business as well as to ensure skills transfer, saying in so doing the communities would be capacitated at different levels to manage and operate sites either on their own or through strategic partnerships.

She added that her ministry had developed community support through its offices with qualified personnel to reach the respective communities.

Mmadinare MP , Mr Molebatsi Molebatsi had asked the minister  to state the structures that had been put in place to attract local tourists in order to boost local tourism in and around Letsibogo and Dikgatlhong dams respectively.

He also wanted to find out about capacity building and skills development programs aimed at capacitating the local communities about tourism strategies around the said dams. ENDS