In an interesting turn of events, relocated Lake Ngami fishermen who were told to fish at other areas following the fishing ban at the lake are facing another eviction from those areas as residents complain of swelling sanitation problems.
The Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama, issued a fishing ban at Lake Ngami for a year following environmental pollution concerns and the fishermen were told to fish at other areas such as the Okavango Delta, Thamalakane and Kunyere rivers.
The fishermen now find themselves in a desperate situation as they are not welcome in the new localities. Residents complain that the fishermen camp on river shores without having consulted community leaders and that they make the rivers very unsightly. Residents have also expressed fear that if the situation continued unabated, the sanitation situation may resemble that found at Lake Ngami.
The Botswana Gazette spoke to one resident, Semumu Samaxa, who resides at Xhobe Settlement in the outskirts of Maun who said the fishermen were a concern and noted that the river is drying and the fishermen worsen the situation as they splash water from the river through the high boat traffic. “These fishermen also scare away hippopotamus from the river forcing them into our farms where they destroy crops and pose danger to people,” he said
Read more at http://www.gazettebw.com/di-mashis-rise-to-the-top/
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