Zimbabwe urgently needs international assistance to clear landmines to enable operationalization of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP), a government official has said.
Permanent Secretary for Defense Trust Maphosa was quoted by New Ziana on Sunday saying that the country required assistance to clear a 70 kilometer stretch of minefield from the Sango Border Post to the Crooks Corner in the vast Gonarezhou National Park.
"It is important that this area is cleared of the landmines if the Transfrontier Park is to be safe and operational for touring purposes," he was quoted as saying on Saturday in Harare.
Maphosa noted it was ideal that the area be de-mined before the 2010 South Africa World Cup to enable droves of tourists expected to descend on the region to move freely in the park and enjoy the wide variety of game, flora and fauna.
The GLTP links the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, the Kruger National Park in South Africa and the Gonarezhou in Zimbabwe and is widely regarded as the jewel of the various transfrontier conservation projects proposed for Southern Africa.
The total surface area of GLTP will be approximately 35,000 square kilometers.
The internationally acclaimed Kruger National Park, which already attracts more than one million visitors annually, with its established and sophisticated tourism infrastructure, is expected to provide a springboard for increased tourism in the lesser developed areas.
Additional range of adventure, sightseeing, and leisure activities that the expanded parks would provide is expected to attract tourists, who would be able to move freely between the three countries.
In a desperate bid to deter freedom fighters from entering the country to launch attacks during the liberation, Rhodesian forces planted landmines along the border with Mozambique where they were based.
The border areas have remained infested with the landmines, which kill and maim hundreds of innocent villagers and their livestock every year.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article