Residents advocate for delta protection

Residents of Seronga and surrounding villages have complained about fishermen who pollute the Okavango Delta. They aired their concerns during a kgotla meeting that Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Phillip Makgalemele, addressed in the area recently.

Mr Makgalemele said while the community had done its best to preserve the Okavango Delta, fishermen who relocated from Lake Ngami in large numbers were frustrating their efforts by polluting the environment. The fishermen relocated to the Okango Delta after government suspended fishing at the lake for a year. Residents called on government to remove the fishermen from the area given that lack of ablution facilities and indiscriminate waste disposal left the delta in a mess.

They said while government allowed communities around the delta concessions to generate income to develop their villages, it was unfortunate that some people still did not appreciate the dangers of indiscriminate waste disposal.

They said the delta was a source of income for them, hence reckless use of the resource could result in poverty in the area.Kgosi Bayei Maeze of Seronga said the sight of waste around the delta was a concern and an eyesore given that the World Heritage Committee recently declared the delta the 1000th World Heritage Site, thus the need to preserve and maintain its pristine beauty. Kgosi Maeze said the listing of the delta as a world heritage site meant certain obligations and expectations from government.

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