Government confuses people Mokgwathi

Government confuses people Mokgwathi 27 July, 2007

PARLIAMENT - MP for Letlhakeng East, Mr Gordon Mokgwathi, has accussed governemnt of sending mixed signals to the nation.

Mr Mokgwathi said Batswana were told to revive agriculture through programmes such as the National Master Plan for Arable Agriculture and Dairy Development while on the other hand they are urged to leave farming by the draft Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) policy for tourism.

The MP was contributing to the debate on the draft CBNRM policy which was presented to Parliament by Environment, Wildlife and Tourism minister, Mr Kitso Mokaila.

However, Mr Mokgwathi, wanted to know how the policy was going to benefit those in his constituency as human-animal conflict was a daily occurence.
He said wild animals ate their crops and livestock.

These animals are very destructive, and now you are telling us that we should leave arable farming and venture into tourism to preserve them? He said he was wondering if the natural resources they are told to conserve had the potential to diversify the economy.

The minister should be specific when he talks about diversification of the economy as statistics show that 47 per cent of the population survive on agriculture, while 30 per cent are economically active, he said.

Mr Mokgwathi said he was reluctant to support the motion because it might not be binding on the excutive.

We have been told that policies adopted by Parliament might not be binding to the executive except for laws that have been passed, she added.

Mr Obakeng Moumakwa of Kgalagadi North said he had hoped the policy would correct past mistakes.

The problem now is that it appears the policy is taking us back as the objectives tend not to address the problems faced by community based organisations, he said.

Mr Moumakwa said the policy would not alleviate poverty because individuals tended to mismanage funds, which left the community with nothing.

He called for the Technical Advisory Committee, as the oversight authority over the community based organisations (CBOs) board to be empowered.

He also asked the minister to reconsider the 65 /35 per cent share split in favour of government and CBOs respectively as it would negatively affect the communities. BOPA