adminMidlands Bureau Chief
The Government will be resettling nearly 5 000 families in Gokwe South’s Chirisa Game Park as part of the hugely popular resettlement programme, Midlands Governor, Cde Jason Machaya has said. In an interview on Tuesday, Cde Machaya said the State set aside 42 000 hectares in the Chirisa Area for the programme which was being coordinated by professionals from the AREX and Lands Office departments.
He said the beneficiaries of the scheme will be drawn from Gokwe North and South Districts.
“Gokwe’s population has been growing resulting in the two districts becoming congested. As Government we felt that there was need to decongest Gokwe and we set aside 30 000 ha from Chirisa Game Park for resettling people. An additional 12 000ha in the same game reserve has been allocated to people from Mutendi area, making it a total of 42 000ha for the programme.
We expect to resettle close to 5 000 families in the Chirisa area. Chiefs in Gokwe have already identified their people who are going to benefit from the programme. Professionals from the AREX and Lands Office are on the ground to ensure that everything is done properly,” said Cde Machaya.
The Midlands Governor said the official launch of the Chirisa Resettlement programme will be held next week in the Chirisa area.
He, however, pointed out that there won’t be any fresh farm occupations in the Midlands as the province had run out of farms to resettle people.
“The Gokwe case is unique. The land is over utilised and congested due to a population boom. The district does not have commercial farms like other parts of the province for the resettlement programme. The absence of commercial farms in both Gokwe districts made it difficult for the Government to immediately resettle people,” said Cde Machaya.
The Midlands Governor allayed fears that the resettlement programme could affect wild animals in the game reserve.
He said Chirisa Game Reserve had over 130 000 ha of land.
“After resettling people, the game reserve will remain with over 100 000ha for the animals. We are also going to create a buffer zone between the game park and the place where we are going to resettle people,” he said.
Cde Machaya said Government has since formalised the Mapfungautsi Resettlement area.
More than 700 families from the Bhandapamwe and Gondoma areas were resettled in the area a few years ago.
“The people in the Mapfungautsi area can now receive services from Government. A school and a clinic are being constructed in the area. More services and infrastructure are going to be provided to the people of Mapfungautsi,” said Cde Machaya.
Chirisa Game Reserve is so vast that it shares borders with Chiefs Sai, Jiri and Nemangwe in Gokwe South and Headman Madzivazvido, Mutendi and Chief Siamchembo in Gokwe North.
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo