Keto Segwai
14 March 2008
Gaborone — As the multi-billion Pula Mmamabula Energy Project (MEP) gathers momentum, some sections of the affected communities are becoming anxious.
The most vulnerable group at this stage appears to be borehole owners, who according to estimates number 26. "If you have 200 herd of cattle where do you take them now. I am just as good as a pauper. Ke gore jaanong motho o ithute go nwa bojalwa. If you are idling what else can one do. Now we'll be compelled to join the battalions of the unemployed," said Ndulamo Boitshepho in jest.
The Mmaphashala farmer and businessman stands to lose a moraka with a borehole and two masimo, 18-hectare and four-hectare ploughing fields. The Ngwato Land Board is busy carrying out valuations around Mmamabula to make way for the construction of a railway link, roads, airstrip and a township. A coalmine with two shafts and a power station will also be constructed in the initial phase of the project. The third shaft is planned for the final stages of the project in Dovedale in a few years.
The Ngwato Land Board secretary, Andrew Pitse said the valuation is expected to be concluded by March 28. The findings will be taken to the valuation section of the Department of Lands to ascertain whether the calculations have been done right and that guidelines have been followed. Pitse disclosed that the process is estimated to take two weeks, after which compensation payouts will be effected. He explained that valuers have not accompanied assessment teams because of a shortage of manpower. The land in Mmamabula is being acquired by the state in the public interest under the Tribal Land Act Section 32. Under the act, persons disadvantaged during the process are to be awarded monetary compensation for the developments carried out on the land and be given alternative land subject to availability. "If the land board cannot provide alternative land then we have to pay for land rights at 10 percent rate of the total value of the land," explained Pitse.
At this stage it appears the land board will provide alternative plots for the affected people. "I don't think we will have problem in getting land for masimo (fields)." Pitse explained that the fields fall in three compensation categories. A fully de-bushed masimo will be compensated at a rate of between P2,420 to P2,660 per hectare, while a partially developed one will attract P2,000 to P2,200 per hectare. The undeveloped tshimo will be compensated at a rate of P1,650 per hectare. Pitse however noted that the quoted rates are for the 2006-2007 financial year which are currently under annual review. "The affected communities are therefore likely to be paid under revised rates of 2007-2008."
"The problem is with the boreholes. It is still an outstanding issue on which we are in consultation with the affected communities and government," said Pitse. The dilemma seems to be unavailability of land for livestock rearing in the affected area. As Boitshepho noted: "In this area, there is no space for a 6 x 6km for an area that goes with a borehole." Even where land could be provided other risky factors come into play. For instance the drilling of a borehole can either result in no water or water, which is unfit for human and livestock consumption.
Yet the principle behind the land acquisition act is that the affected person shall not be left at a worse situation than they were in initially. As a solution, one of the affected farmers in the Serorome lands, Onalenna Puso proposed that perhaps the relevant authorities could investigate the possibility of purchasing some un-utilised farms in Sand Veldt region of the Central District. Or better still, free hold farms flanking the southern part of the affected area can be purchased. A strip of freehold farms run from Masama all the way to Sherwood. What remains to be seen is whether the promoters of the Mmamabula Energy Project, which is wholly-owned by CIC Energy Corporation, will be willing to fund such purchases. CIC, however, appears not to be averse to such a development based on what is contained in their environmental impact assessment study carried out by Digby Wills and Associates.
The study notes that: "Land-based strategies should receive preference for those displaced from their land, while productivity potential and locational benefit of replacement land must be equal to or better than existing land". Compensation is to be paid by the project promoters - CIC Energy Corp. There is a general feeling among the affected communities that the promoters could be willing to pay them market rates. But skepticism abounds about government's involvement which they feel will disadvantage them.
On the other hand government sees its role as facilitative. "The Ngwato Land Board's role is only to assist in making sure the right procedures are followed. We have the best interests of the affected communities at heart. Issues such as the purchase of the freehold farms can only be decided upon by the CIC," maintained Pitse.
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