Beforetimes...

99-year lease for park slashed to 25 years

By Times Reporter
THE Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) has signed revised Tourism Concession Agreements (TCA) with Safpar Lodge in Mosi-oa-tunya National Park.

The agreement effectively cancels the two 99 year-lease title deeds earlier issued by ZAWA’s forerunner National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and replaces them with 25-year lease agreements.

Speaking during a Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday ZAWA director general Hapenga Kabeta said the move was necessitated because the earlier agreement violated the Zambia Wildlife Act, which did not allow people to hold title in the national parks.

He explained that Safpar had a 99-year title in Mosi-oa-tunya National Park on Plot number 14730/m and 14732/m where they intended to construct David Livingstone hotel and tented camps.

Mr Kabeta said that the ZAWA had no powers to recommend the issuance of title deeds in the national parks adding that if a title was issued in a national park then such an area needs to be zoned out and degazetted from the park.

He observed that the TCA given to Safpar would give comfort to the investors and ZAWA as the security of the tenure was guaranteed adding that the Zambia Wildlife Act was not violated.

“This agreement is a win -win situation where the investor is happy and ZAWA is also happy,” he said.

He noted that Kafue National Park had a few investors and as a way of promoting investments, ZAWA had prepared a tender bid document and placed advertisements inviting investor to invest in various national parks.

He said so far ZAWA had conducted negotiations and signed several TCAs in Kafue, South Luangwa, Nsumbu and Mosi-oa-tunya national parks.

Speaking earlier, Safari Par Excellence director Xen Vlahakis said the hotel development project his company wants to undertake was estimated at US$14 million which he said would be another major tourism and hospitality project in Livingstone.

He said the 160-bed four star hotel facility would be situated on the present Adventure Village site, which was being relocated to a new downstream adding that the hotel would be constructed on two levels within the tree-line.