13 Jun 2013

Mababe Village Development Committee (VDC) vice chairperson, Mr Therisano Mogodu says due to the ineffectiveness of committee members and lack of support from civil servants, development in the village has been slow.

He said there had been no projects implementation in the village for years because the VDC had been not functioning as expected. He said in an interview that the committee had no direction because of lack of support and advice from civil servants, noting that recently they elected a new committee, which he hoped would make a difference in the village.

Mr Mogodu said the new committee had already drafted a plan and embarked on renovation of six blocks of houses and the village cooperative. He said their cooperative had been idling since its completion and the intention was to open it. 

He said the Mababe Development Trust had promised to assist with some funds to ensure the cooperative served the community interests.

He said time had come for VDC to focus on developments that would benefit their village as well as attract tourists, adding that the village had all the qualities of becoming a tourism destination. He said the tourism industry was doing well in the area due to proximity to Chobe National Park.

Mr Mogodu said most of the residents worked in Safaris while some were engaged by the trust. He hailed the good job done by the trust noting it hired some villagers and also assisted the less under privileged society by providing shelter to them.

He said one house was complete while four were on-going. In addition, he said the trust fenced five plots for the elderly people. He however said the fence was damaged by elephants that roamed the village.

Mr Mogodu also decried the decision by the government to ban hunting by 2014, saying it would impact negatively on the communities as most of them were working in Safari companies.ENDS