The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has denied closing game drive roads in the Bwabwata Game park near Divundu in the Kavango East region, saying they only closed illegal tracks.
This is according to ministry spokesperson Vilho Angula, who was responding to a letter of complaint purportedly written to the ministry by concerned tour guides working in the park.
“The ministry has not received this complaint yet. However, the ministry has only closed off illegal routes at Bwabwata. All approved and existing roads remain open. We cannot respond to hearsay and WhatsApp grapevine,” he says.
This comes after a group, Concerned Local Guides, wrote to deputy environment minister Anslem Murungu complaining about alleged unfair treatment in the park.
“The ministry, through the office of the regional deputy director, has instructed staff to close all roads along the Kavango River views.
“Every professional guide knows that 90% of game viewing at Bwabwata happens along the Kavango River front. This is where buffalo, elephant, sable, and lions come to drink water. By closing these roads you have effectively closed the park for tourism,” the guides say, who are represented by Theo Kakororo.
The deputy minister has denied receiving the guides’ letter, although he says he was told about the issue.
Kakororo says some tourists come to Bwabwata to see special species of birds and swamp antelopes but these cannot be seen from the roads the ministry wants them to use. He says the “frustrated” tourists expressed their anger to the guides.
“This beats the purpose why tourists come here in the first place,” says Kakororo, adding that some of the closed tracks have been used for over 25 years, having been established during the apartheid era.
Angula says the tour guides have been creating their own roads in the park when they spot a pride of lions or other animals because they drive 4×4 vehicles.
“Some of these tracks are in river beds and had to be closed because the ministry has a road map for the park,” Angula says.
Kakororo also complains that despite paying entry fees into Bwabwata Park, guides and tourists are fined for stopping to take pictures in the park.
Tour guide Diasy Thindhimba was fined N$1 200 on 16 September after he was found to have stopped on the side of the road to allow tourists to take photographs, while another guide, Muterenge Djani, claims he was fined for driving off-road.
“Even unemployed community members are fined as much as N$4 000 for fishing in the river for the pot. Where will he get such an amount?” he asks.
Angula says all people, including guides found off road, are fined, as this is provided by the law.
“This is not unique to Bwabwata. There are regulations in all national parks to protect the pristine environment from damage by 4×4 vehicles,” he says.
Angula says while there are clear guidelines on which roads to use in the park, the Bwabwata community has been advised to write to the environment minister requesting for a new road should it require one, and the necessary processes will be undertaken to establish one.
– email: matthew@namibian.com.na
