The dying Tati River (Part III)
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday November 27, 2020 14:39
FRANCISTOWN: At the Department of Environmental Affairs in Francistown, District environment coordinator, Phillip Sandawana and his team are working overtime in an endeavour to come up with an effective solution to a plethora of troubles bedevilling the Tati River.
Chief on their list of priorities is to engage about 25 ward development committees as their stakeholders and hand the rehabilitation projects to the communities around the city.
The environmental affair has chosen to pursue a model in which the whole responsibility is heaped upon the communities so that they shoulder the requisite responsibilities that go with it.
Sandawana appreciated this model from New Zealand where he read for his Masters Degree in environment management and he is convinced it can work here. His main concern is that as a government department, when they solicit for funding for projects, they always struggle.
He said that UN agencies like the UNDP do have small grants programmes through which they might help out. He also mentioned the USAID as another potential benefactor that could fund the project(s).
There is also the National Environment Fund (NEF), which is administered by the Department of Environment Affairs (DEA) in which communities can benefit in caring for the environment or rehabilitating the troubled Tati River.
Sandawana noted that Francistown has no trusts, but fortunately, the law recognises Ward Development Committees for funding.
It’s the DEA’s target to inculcate a sense of accountability to the communities to take care of the environment people live in so that it can support them in the long term.
“Early in 2021, the DEA will go into communities and ensure they are duly assisted to apply for funding and rehabilitate Tati River and other pressing projects,” reiterated Sandawana.
Ogomoditse Maruapula is a Tatisiding-based entrepreneur and an environmental expert. He is an environmental land use planner, who is also a community environmental activist who has led environmental education and tree planting campaigns throughout Botswana.
Some years ago, Maruapula had founded an NGO called Environmental Heritage Foundation (EHF) of Botswana.
Maruapula is a Francistowner who schooled at the old Tatitown Primary School and Mater Spei College, both of which basically lie along the Tati River. He has therefore, crossed the river many a times going to school, visiting friends and family as well as played in the river as a school-going child.
Growing up in Francistown was streetwise and very interesting escapade for him and his peers. Having attended primary school at Tatitown, there was a direct link between Monarch on the other side, as the river and the old and wrecked Monarch bridge were offering some magnificent features to play at.
The Tati River was a very important feature of the lives of many. There was collection of river sand for construction purposes, there was swimming taking place and of course, many games were taking place at the riverside.
“As a Tatitown pupil, the school would use the river as a playing ground and we could run on the riverbed as part of exercise,” reminisces Maruapula who grew up at Bluetown and other locations near the river.
From the standpoint of environmentalism, Maruapula said it is of great concern that the Tati River and its shores have deteriorated and indeed lost its quality. This degeneration and indeed the deplorable state of affairs, he observed, are degrading not only to the environment but also to the lives of Francistown residents.
“Clearly, this shows lack of care and concern for nature and its offering,” said the expert who holds a Masters Degree in environmental planning.
He insists: “The river being a natural source should have been cared for to sustain the lives of the Francistowners.”
As part of the Francistown Revitilisation Plan, developed by the Department of Town and Regional Planning (DTRP) and presented to the Francistown City Council (FCC) for approval and adoption, Maruapula highlightsthat, “there are skeletal projects on how the river could be resuscitated and these include riverbank gardens, walk-aways and others that could provide beauty and appreciation for the river.”
The environmentalist is adamant that there is need for restoration of the lost value of the river. He was also concerned that lack of concern and enforcement by the FCC is apparent.
Maruapula feels the river can be rescued from its imminent death by, “designing an environmental rehabilitation and mitigation plan/project for the segment of the river that runs across Francistown and involveing communities for the environmental stewardship of the river.”
To further protect rivers from imminent death, the Water Management Act of 1998 reads in part: “It is recommended that an Environmental Protection and Conservation Policy be pursued during the plan period. Amongst other measures, this will entail the implementation of a 50-metre development free zone from the banks of all rivers.”
In addition, as a policy requirement, it is recommended that all major developments such as quarries be subjected to an environmental impact assessment as part of the approval process.
The Tati and Ntshe rivers are the dominant physiographic features of Francistown and effectively divide the settlements into three parts.
Information sourced from the DTRP show that the rivers are dry for at least six months of the year and major flows occur for about 1.5 months although minor flows, which impede pedestrians criss-crossing the sandy riverbeds, last for about three months. “The predominant drainage direction in the north of the town is southwards, while in the south is eastward. Numerous small streams, which are dry for most of the year, straddle the area. Prominent amongst these is the Masemenyenga stream, which periodically floods, causing damage to the surrounding area. The Tati and Ntshe rivers flood periodically, inundating the surrounding areas,” further suggests information from the city’s Revitilisation Plan.
It further suggests four planning and design issues relating to hydrological patterns. The first is safety and protection. The second is water quality. The third is optimising the ecological role of watercourses. All of these require that the watercourses should run through generous ecological corridors. The fourth is transforming the watercourses into environmental and recreational assets and this is the reverse of the current situation where the rivers are largely treated as backyards with buildings turning their backs on them.
The banks of the river are transformed into a mix of agricultural and recreational zones. Agriculture and a sport complex define the eastern edge. The central portion offers opportunities for river-edge re-development, promoting higher density, upper-end accommodation and recreational activities. A river walk is created along both edges, promoting passive recreation and culminating in a park. These are some of the developments earmarked by the Francistown Revitilisation Plan in an endeavour to mitigate some of the troubles bedevilling the Tati River.