An investor in Livingstone suggests misinformation on Legacy...

Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 9:38 AM
Subject: Re: The Times of London

As an Investor in Livingstone please let me comment on the legacy issue since it seems there is allot of misinformation. Firstly this is not a black white issue. Some local Europeans are against this project being built in a National Park, many are not, and welcome this development. This is also the case with the local Zambian population. It is agreed by all that we welcome the development. Only the site is contentious.

We hear that this development will wreck the park. This is not the case at all since the main Zoological part of the park will be totally unaffected, as will the falls area. We hear it will pollute the water and yet an open sewer floes into the Zambezi at the Maramba-Zambezi confluence and has done so for years. Legacy will have to stop this. This therefore should be seen as one of the many benefits of this project. We hear that
when the park is enlarged the game won't be able to move east and west, yet the Maramba river forms a natural barrier to most game movement. We hear that the golf course will have disastrous effects on the local environment, yet we see two local golf courses at Elephant Hills and Mwana that team with game.

We hear the World Heritage Organisation will de list the Falls and mount a would wide campaign to stop tourists coming to the Falls area. Where does this information come from?? I have been onto the World Heritage web site and can find no reference to this. Perhaps this is disinformation put out by vested interests in Zimbabwe? I am sure that the World Heritage does not have a mandate to campaign against a destination.

It should also be noted that the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe has a population in excess of 30,000 and 5 large hotels within only a few kilometres of the falls. This has had no discernable impact on them. So we should be basing our arguments for or against this development on fact not hearsay or fiction. We should welcome the Legacy group to Livingstone, and work with them to make this development happen in an environmentally sensitive way that benefits all the people of this town and puts Zambia firmly on the would tourism map.

Richard Sheppard.
Managing Director.