Saturday, July 27, 2024

Previous governments issued timber concession licenses to cadres and foreigners, Nzovu told

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Senior Chief Sikufele of Manyinga District has said that the previous government issued timber concession licenses to cadres and foreigners, who have allegedly harvested timber indiscriminately in his Chiefdom.

The traditional leader said that timber has been harvested by foreigners at the expense of the locals.

Senior Chief Sikufele said that the people of Manyinga have not benefited from the natural resource in their district.

The Chief said that he is concerned with the dwindling numbers of timber in his chiefdom and has called on the government to intervene and preserve the resources.

Speaking when Green Economy and Environment Minister Collins Nzovu called on him at his palace in Manyinga, the traditional leader called on the government to ensure that concession license holders harvest timber in a sustainable manner.

And Mr. Nzovu said the government will arrest concession license holders that are into illegal timber trading.
The minister said he is aware that some timber concession license holders are aiding the illegal harvest of timber in Kabompo and Manyinga District.

Mr. Nzovu said all foreigners that are collaborating with local timber dealers and engaging in illegal activities will be arrested.

He said the new dawn government wants all resources across the country to be shared equally adding that businesses should be professional in their dealings.

16 COMMENTS

  1. And the useless Nzovu is not even calling the ACC or the police. This guy needs to be REPLACED! Do something Bally!

  2. Minister of the Environment. Sure! What a total waste of time and money is this ministry. They can’t even get a charcoal production ban going!

  3. Nzovu was talking about “My officers are on the ground” but those officers didn’t arrest ANYONE! Stupidity? Corruption?

  4. Tanzania did away with chiefs because they don’t serve any purpose. All they do is is to sugar-coat every new government. He said the same thing when Edgar Lungu visited his area.

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  5. Conflating cadres and foreigners in the same sentence is demeaning to the well-meaning foreigners who may have obtained their concessions legitimately. Also, this habit of kicking the can along by using future tense must come to a stop by our political leadership. We elected you when you were promising future action. Now is. Sewenzani cabe, osati manyozo cabe.

  6. Citizens need to be proactive in protecting their natural resources……….

    That is why we have been calling for a environmental awareness subject to be taught from primary school………..

    Garbage disposal and looking after our natural resources and environment should be thought from primary school………….

    All these indiscriminate mining and decimation of forests would be addressed as citizens will be actively protecting their surroundings…………

  7. @Spaka,
    What you are saying can be thought of in 50 – 100 years from now !
    Seriuosly, how do you expect a hungry citizen to go and protect natural resources…….???. I quote: “The minister said he is aware that some timber concession license holders are aiding the illegal harvest…..”. end quote.
    Those so-called illegal harvesters, are the citizens, that you are calling upon to protect the environment. UNTIL you fix their hunger, the call for citizens to protect the environment will remain a wishful thinking.

  8. #6  general Kanene
     February 7, 2022 At 1:08 pm

    “@Spaka,
    What you are saying can be thought of in 50 – 100 years from now !
    Seriuosly, how do you expect a hungry citizen to go and protect natural resources…….???. ….”

    General, by protecting natural resources, does not mean you don’t benefit from them………

    It means you look after them and use them sustainably…………

    Protecting your natural resources means when you see people abusing or waisting………you intervine.

    Protecting your natural resources means watching the over harvesting of trees and mining indiscriminately………

    Unless you are saying our people are compete savages who can’t be taught sustainable harvesting and mining…………

  9. @ Spaka,
    I do understand your definition. We are dealing with what i term cultural shift / Change !
    And if you agree that we need cultural shift / Change, then we can assume that the pressure should be on the government, to implement such programs that entails cultural shift in form of education and also bring about the opportunities that affords the citizens realizes the benefits.

  10. Conservationists in Zambia have hailed a high court injunction preventing deforestation and commercial agriculture on the edge of Kasanka national park, which they say threatens the world’s biggest mammal migration.
    Every October, about 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on the swamps of Kasanka from across Africa and beyond. They feast on fruit in and around the park, one of Zambia’s smallest but under the highest level of protection, dispersing seeds across the continent on their epic journey.
    Park officials warned last year that the bat migration could disappear if proposals for farming in the park’s buffer zone were approved, which involved drawing on water from the Luwombwa River, which passes through the protected area, and clearing thousands of hectares of habitat…

  11. Previous government allowed cadres and foreigners to steal timber and this government allows cadres and foreigners to mine in lower zambezi so what’s the difference?

  12. #10  general Kanene
     February 7, 2022 At 3:06 pm

    “@ Spaka,
    I do understand your definition. We are dealing with what i term cultural shift / Change !
    And if you agree that we need cultural shift / Change, then we can assume that the pressure should be on the government, to implement such programs that entails cultural shift in form of education and also bring about the opportunities that affords the citizens realizes the benefits…”

    That is the idea of introducing an environment awareness subject at primary school where 90 % of our citizens pass through…….

    Mining, fishing , timber harvest, garbage collection and recycling must be done sustainably……….all this can be taught in basic form at primary school as well being patriotic.

  13. @ Spaka,
    Exactly ! so that is not far from the 50 years from now when we could expect total awareness ! The current generation is “hungry”, and corrupt.
    Hope for change is with the new generation in primary schools. The GRZ should act fast before this new generation grows up without environmental awareness.

  14. 14  general Kanene
     February 7, 2022 At 5:47 pm

    “@ Spaka,
    Exactly ! so that is not far from the 50 years from now when we could expect total awareness ! The current generation is “hungry”, and corrupt…”

    I will argue that……….

    If these lessons are taught in primary schools…………

    With in 4 to 5 years , when primary school students are in community , the effects of this learning will be evident……..

    Marked improvements in garbage disposal, deforestation and patriotism will be seen , even if the primary school graduates are still teens…….

  15. So isn’t it time for the new govt to implement appropriate policies and not to please keep talking about what PF did wrong?
    That’s why PF is gone!
    Did you have policies worked out while in opposition or you are just trying to formulate them now?
    This Nzovu guy, Felix mutati and Milupi are a let down. Too much yapping, that’s all.

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