03 Oct 2018

 The Member of Parliament for Ngami Thato Kwerepe has encouraged communities that make up the Lake Ngami Conservation Trust to rally behind the trust in its projects that are aimed at generating income.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Lake Ngami Classic and Fish Festival on Tuesday, Kwerepe said Lake Ngami as a source of livelihoods for the communities needed to be used with care for sustainability.

Kwerepe, who is also Assistant Minister for Basic Education, said Lake Ngami was the economic backbone for the communities who relied on it for agriculture and fishing.

He commended the Lake Ngami Classic and Fish Festival as another product which promoted tourism around the lake.

He noted that fish had been touted as a healthy alternative to other meats, and that it had the potential to be exported.

Kwerepe said he hoped the fish festival, which was the first of its kind, would improve next year.

 He also urged communities around Lake Ngami to ensure conservation of the resources.

He said the charcoal project was another project that aimed to improve communities with an anticipated 400 jobs which would benefit communities.

Kwerepe said the charcoal project, which would utilise the bush in the area, had already established possible markets in neighbouring countries.

Lake Ngami Conservation Trust chairperson, Gabriel Kasondoro appreciated all who made the festival possible.

Kasondoro said the low-turnout was not as anticipated and he attributed it partly to independence celebrations. He said the event was hoped to benefit many locals, those trained in farming bait worms for anglers and those with stalls.

Nonetheless, Kasondoro said the organisers learnt from challenges experienced. Regarding the charcoal project, he said charcoal mining was expected to bring more revenue to the communities of the six villages making the trust.

Kasondoro said potential buyers had been impressed by the samples of charcoal.

The fish festival was held in collaboration with Kingfisher Angling Club which has a memorandum of understanding with the trust to mentor trust members, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ngamiland Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project. ENDs