Mzembi defends Vic Falls park

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TOURISM and Hospitality minister Walter Mzembi has defended the proposed $18 million Santoga historical and recreational park in Victoria Falls, saying it is not a zoo as alleged by critics of the project.

TOURISM and Hospitality minister Walter Mzembi has defended the proposed $18 million Santoga historical and recreational park in Victoria Falls, saying it is not a zoo as alleged by critics of the project.

By Mthandazo Nyoni

Zimbabwe tourism group Africa Albida Tourism (AAT) this week said development of the park would be completed in 2017.

The park, which will be built on 80 acres of land adjacent to the Victoria Falls Safari lodge, is the biggest private investment in the tourism hub for over a decade.

AAT chairperson Dave Glynn said the park would “tell the story of Victoria Falls from the very beginning, four billion years ago, through its history, people, plants and wildlife”.

walter mzembi
walter mzembi

However, some conservationists have criticised the project, likening it to a zoo, which they say is not needed in Victoria Falls.

Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, wildlife conservationists and other players in the tourism sector, including the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security — under which the Department of Monuments falls — Bubi legislator Clifford Sibanda (Zanu PF), described the move as a sign of madness.

The project, according to some players, was designed to capture the wildlife and do penny breeding so that the lodge could be able to cater for its daily menu, which includes game meat, especially warthogs.

But Mzembi dismissed the allegations saying they were being peddled by AAT’s business rivals.

“My understanding after a briefing from the investors is that it’s not a zoo,” the minister said.

“It’s their competitors who are discrediting it as a zoo, for business turf reasons.

“I want to see peaceful non-conflicting coexistence of all players in Victoria Falls.

“As government, we facilitate and enable creativity by the private sector, and are equally alert to negative competition which must be discouraged at all costs.”

In a statement to the media Glynn said: “Our research is showing there are incredible stories to tell about Victoria Falls and its surroundings, an example is the very earliest form of life, called a stromatolite, the earliest findings ever found, are not far from Victoria Falls.

“We have two dinosaur species that are significant in the global dinosaur story. We want to showcase all of that, but in a very first world multiple film set type of environment because we know this can’t be a museum, it can’t be a zoo, it needs to bombard the senses and it needs to be highly interactive with very powerful audiovisual content throughout.”

Santonga is expected to draw 120 000 visitors annually and boost the average length of time tourists stay in Victoria Falls. It is also expected to create 150 direct jobs and many more downstream jobs.

l Additional reporting by The Source