Trust gets hunting quota
13 June, 2007

MAUN - The Mababe Zukutshawa Community Trust has been issued with a new hunting quota even though it has not met all the stipulated requirements because it is in the best interests of everybody involved, said an official of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

Mr Chilule Mlazie told residents of Sankoyo during a kgotla meeting addressed by their MP, Mr Duncan Mlazie, that the community trust has a binding contract with their joint-venture partners and was in the best interests of tourists and the partners.

Mr Mlazie said if his office had withheld the hunting quota for the purposes of punishing the trust, they would have also inadvertently punished the joint-venture partners and tourists who had nothing to do with the problems of the trust.

He said the joint-venture partner had already arranged with its oversees clients to come and hunt and it would have caused problems if a hunting quota was not issued.

Community trusts are expected to produce audited reports every year and to employ a manager and an accountant if they are to continue receiving hunting quotas.

Mr Mlazie, however, said his department had issued the trust with a hunting quota under strict conditions. Some of the conditions are that the funds derived from the sale of hunting quotas are kept in a separate account so that the money is not used until all the requirements are met.

He was responding to a comment by Mr Keitiretse Zana who had said the department was not fair in the issuance of hunting quotas as it gave the Mababe Zukutshawa Community Trust hunting quotas while they did not meet all the requirements.

He explained that other trusts were not given the same treatment when they failed to meet all the requirements. Mr Zana also complained about the failure of community trusts technical advisory committees to attend urgent meetings.

Mr Mlazie said the committee consisted of employees of different departments who have their core duties to attend to on a daily basis and that they could not attend every emergency meeting called by the trusts. He added that the committee members attended scheduled meetings. BOPA

And so it goes in Africa. . . .