04 Dec 2013

North West District councillors have welcomed a report, which seeks to confirm that the liquid waste management systems used by tour operators are working efficiently.

They adopted the report during an ongoing full council meeting and there was a recommendation that all facilities within the delta should adopt the use of mini packaged plants and stop using septic tanks and soak-away systems.

The report came after the council made a resolution to tour tourism enterprises within the delta to ensure proper management of liquid waste. Presenting the report, the principal environmental officer, Ms Bosiela Segogo, observed a team comprising four councillors and two officers toured some selected facilities at NG 27 A and B.

She noted that the purpose of the trip was to establish the types of liquid waste management used and to make recommendations on the best available technology practices to be adopted by the tourism enterprises.

Ms Segogo said in their findings, they realized that most of the operators are still using septic soak-away systems and that some had mini-packaged plant systems which are working adequately.

In one of the camps, there were reported incidents of elephants vandalizing the piping of the system thereby letting some effluent into open environment. In another camp, it was found that the operator used generators to empty the septic tanks and hauled by boat to Maun for disposal.

The system was said to be not ideal for the area owing to proximity to water bodies and chance of water table being shallow.Some councillors emphasised the need for relevant departments to regularly visit the camps inspect and ensure compliance with regulations.

The trip was sponsored by Southern African Regional Environmental Programme (SAREP) and Delta Air. SAREP is a USAID funded project whose main objective is to build capacity for water governance, support basin-level plans and priorities and integrate trans-boundary infrastructure and land use planning.

The project aims to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, increase access to water supply and sanitation, address global climate change and integrate HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Ends