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Security stalls Frontier Park
The Zimbabwe Standard
February 20, 2006

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/read.php?path=./news/2006/February/Sunday19/&st_id=900

SECURITY concerns are threatening the progress of the Great Limpopo Trans Frontier Park amid reports that the Zimbabwean government does not have land to resettle villagers from Sengwe.

The Governor for Masvingo, Willard Chiwewe, said the government wants the villagers out but admitted that would take longer than expected because they do not have land to relocate them.

"We will remove them as soon as we have an alternative place to relocate them. Right now we do not have the actual land," Chiwewe said.

The Governor, however, said a committee in the district was looking into the problem to avert a crisis.

The State will have a hard time convincing the Sengwe community who are adamant they will not move out of the park, they consider their ancestral land.

The Sengwe community were moved out of the Gonarezhou to pave way for the establishment of the park in 1975 but invaded it at the height of the Land Reform Programme in a development that has irked Zimbabwe's partners in the project - Mozambique and South Africa .

Fears are that their stay could create security concerns chief among which would be fuelling poaching and increased animal and human conflicts.

National Parks and Wildlife Authority public relations officer, Major Edward Mbewe, said they are keen to see the community leaving.

"As Parks we want them out. We have reserved that area as an extensive zone for the rhino," Mbewe said.

A meeting was held in Masvingo and culminated in a tour of Sengwe but according to Mbewe there was no consensus on the how to handle the relocation of members of the community.

"There was a tour. Our director (Dr Morris Mtsambiwa) went there but no decision was made. Another meeting has been scheduled for the 23rd of this month (this week) to map the way forward," he said.

Mbewe said progress on the Great Limpopo Trans Frontier Park would go ahead despite the security concerns.

"We cannot stop it (GLTP) because of security concerns. There are more advantages to having the GLTP," Mbewe said.

But official reports said progress would be stalled because of outstanding security worries.

Among these are the illegal activities that would be fuelled by the removal of fences dividing the Kruger National Park of South Africa, Gonarezhou of Zimbabwe and the Limpopo National Park of Mozambique.

Mbewe said the fences were still to be removed but did not anticipate "problems" once that has been done.

However industry officials told Standardbusiness last week that the three parties were edgy about their removal with suggestions of creating periphery border posts having been dismissed by South Africa, which raised worries that it, could increase border jumping.

Incompatible legislation was also raised as a concern with fears that it could fuel poaching because of the varying penalties imposed on those apprehended.

"There was also the case of clearly defining roles among security officers to reduce negligence. A number of security agencies would be present including defence, police, veterinary and the challenge would be to co-ordinate roles so that people do not neglect their duties and blame it on someone else. For Zimbabwe, it would also be providing the necessary infrastructure given the lack of funds," said an official.

The tourism industry last year said it was unhappy at the progress being made by the National Parks and Wildlife Authority to develop the Gonarezhou and was reluctant to invest.

Mbewe said the three parties had established a security committee to deal with the worries but did not elaborate the progress made.

The GLTP project began after the heads of states for the three participating countries signed a treaty in 2002.

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