Seven Hundred Families To Be Relocated
HARARE- About 700 families of the Chitsa clan, who have been living in the Gonarezhou National Park since 2000, will be relocated to alternative land at the end of the cropping season, the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has said.
The Authority has been pushing for this measure to enable the integration of the Park into the Kruger in South Africa and Limpopo Parks in Mozambique to form the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.
The Chitsa people, at the instigation of their leaders, have been resisting relocation attempts by the authority arguing that the area was their ancestral home.
They claim that they were hoodwinked into leaving the park by the colonial regime under the pretext that they wanted to clear the area of tsetse fly before people could return.
They further claim that after the clearing of the tsetse fly, the colonial regime made their land part of the Gonarezhou Park and they were never allowed to return.
Parks spokesperson, Retired Major Edward Mbewe, said that the community, after a series of consultations and meetings, had agreed to be relocated.
"We have covered quite a lot of ground and the political will is on our side.
"We held several meetings with the chiefs, the area’s Member of Parliament, headman Chitsa, provincial and district administrators and everyone agreed that they should be relocated to allow the smooth implementation of the Transfrontier Park. They will be moving," said Rtd Maj Mbewe.
He said the authority had not started the relocation process due to the current cropping season and as soon as the season is over, the relocation process would start.
"As an authority, we can not do things which are inhuman and as soon as they harvest their crops, we will start the relocation process.
"Currently, we are also working on a comprehensive programme on how the relocation would be implemented," Rtd Maj Mbewe added.
He said chiefs and other traditional leaders who attended the consultative meetings, had concurred with the Chitsa community on the historical importance of the park.
Rtd Maj Mbewe said while the settlement of the families in the park was against the Parks and Wildlife Act, the authority would not disrupt the community’s farming activities through a hurried relocation.
"In the meantime, we are enforcing some of the provisions of the Act as we work out on the comprehensive relocation programme.
"We will be limiting the movement of their livestock in the park. We are also making sure that dogs are not allowed in the area."
The Authority has been pushing for this measure to enable the integration of the Park into the Kruger in South Africa and Limpopo Parks in Mozambique to form the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.
The Chitsa people, at the instigation of their leaders, have been resisting relocation attempts by the authority arguing that the area was their ancestral home.
They claim that they were hoodwinked into leaving the park by the colonial regime under the pretext that they wanted to clear the area of tsetse fly before people could return.
They further claim that after the clearing of the tsetse fly, the colonial regime made their land part of the Gonarezhou Park and they were never allowed to return.
Parks spokesperson, Retired Major Edward Mbewe, said that the community, after a series of consultations and meetings, had agreed to be relocated.
"We have covered quite a lot of ground and the political will is on our side.
"We held several meetings with the chiefs, the area’s Member of Parliament, headman Chitsa, provincial and district administrators and everyone agreed that they should be relocated to allow the smooth implementation of the Transfrontier Park. They will be moving," said Rtd Maj Mbewe.
He said the authority had not started the relocation process due to the current cropping season and as soon as the season is over, the relocation process would start.
"As an authority, we can not do things which are inhuman and as soon as they harvest their crops, we will start the relocation process.
"Currently, we are also working on a comprehensive programme on how the relocation would be implemented," Rtd Maj Mbewe added.
He said chiefs and other traditional leaders who attended the consultative meetings, had concurred with the Chitsa community on the historical importance of the park.
Rtd Maj Mbewe said while the settlement of the families in the park was against the Parks and Wildlife Act, the authority would not disrupt the community’s farming activities through a hurried relocation.
"In the meantime, we are enforcing some of the provisions of the Act as we work out on the comprehensive relocation programme.
"We will be limiting the movement of their livestock in the park. We are also making sure that dogs are not allowed in the area."
Labels: gonarezhou, great limpopo park, land reform, transfrontier park
posted by Kruger2Canyons.com at
Thursday, December 28, 2006
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