13 Sep 2020

Erection of electric fence in Zone 7 area  to control livestock movement across the border has not been completed.

Responding to a parliamentary question on Thursday, the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Karabo Gare, said government took a decision to erect and   electrify  an approximately 500km of cordon fence along the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe to control livestock movements thereby preventing recurrence of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) from Zimbabwe between 2002 and 2004.

Minister Gare said the electrical component of the fence was done for 166 km, but it could not be carried out further due to continuous vandalism.

He further said there were technical problems because installed devices could not energise or power the fence for any distance beyond 20 km.

Therefore, he said it became evident that electrification of the fence was going to be unsustainable, hence discontinuation of the project.

Minister Gare said the fence was electrified mainly to prevent elephant’s damage on the existing fence, which was becoming unsustainable to maintain.

He said the total cost of  the project was P85 million

Mr Gare said the project  was done in three phases involving, erection of the fence, electrification and realignment of the existing fence.

He explained that electric fence was the most effective barrier to protect fences from elephant damage the world over.

He said his ministry would have appreciated installation of the fence had it not experienced the challenges.

However, he stated that he was aware of the plan to construct a Tuli backline by the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism.

He said his ministry also appreciated the plan to construct an elephant proof fence that followed the same alignment to address human/wildlife conflict that would also serve the purpose for the disease control.

Member of Parliament (MP) for Bobonong, Mr Taolo Lucas had wanted the minister to state the  reasons for failure to complete the electric fence for the disease control fence in the Zone 7 area along the Botswana / Zimbabwe Border.

MP Lucas had also wanted to know the amount of money on the erection of the fence before it was discontinued. ENDS