19 Mar 2014

Member of Parliament for Gaborone West South, Mr Botsalo Ntuane has called on the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT) to guard against fuelling tribalism through various cultural festivals.

Debating the ministry’s budget request for the 2014/15 financial year presented to Parliament on Tuesday, March 18, Mr Ntuane said in the process of nation building, they should be cautious that they would not regress because such festivals could promote separatist tendencies.

On domestic tourism, Mr Ntuane said the ministry must make a concerted effort of promoting the capital city, Gaborone as a tourism destination in the same way as Paris in France, London in the United Kingdom and Johannesburg in South Africa.

He said the city should benefit from having been a set of the filming of the Mma Ramotswe movie, which the government also invested some millions on its production.

The MP said in his recent visit to the film set in Kgale hill in his constituency showed that the buildings were dilapidated and said the ministry should have created a tourism experience around the area.

He said the ministry should be clear about the ‘Explore your Botswana’ initiative and how one could benefit from it through the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO).

In his contribution, MP for Maun East, Mr Frank Ramsden said the tourism industry is still dominated by foreigners who benefit more than the citizens who preserved the natural resources.

He said the current rules do not favour citizens, noting that even self-drives in local parks are favouring tourists from outside the country.

Mr Ramsden noted that the minister should investigate the possible ‘deliberate mistake’ by the Hotel and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB), which he said grabs the camp sites in national parks from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) and in turn lease them to local safari operators.

Furthermore, Mr Ramsden said he does not agree with moving Mababe and Khwai residents from Moremi Game Reserve and provide them with cattle for rearing as part of affirmative action.

Commenting, MPs for Maun West, Mr Tawana Moremi and Mr Kentse Rammidi for Kanye North tried in vain to stop the minister from presenting his budget proposal owing to a paragraph they felt offended Parliament.

The minister’s paragraph 14 read thus, “I am concerned that even with assistance offered to communities, some of the farmers and legislators are not committed and therefore these efforts become futile.”

The MPs told the acting Speaker, Mr Pono Moatlhodi that they felt the minister was painting all MPs with the same brush and should instead name the legislators not showing commitment instead of generalising before they could debate.

Mr Moatlhodi however said he found nothing wrong in the paragraph and ruled that the debate should continue. ENDS