Parliament wants Rwf350m allotted to fencing Akagera Park

Parliament through its budgetary committee wants government to allocate Rwf350 million to fence the Akagera National Park. The law makers want the money to come from the Rwf30b allocated to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in the budget framework paper for the financial year 2011/12. “This is a sensitive issue that needs attention because stray animals from the Park kill people living within its boundaries and destroy their crops,” Abas Mukama, the Vice president of the budgetary committee said, Friday, last week during a preliminary session to analyse and discuss the budget framework. Fencing of Akagera National Park will require Rwf350m in addition to Rwf500m budgeted for in the financial year 2010/2011. The additional funding was supposed to come from Dubai World as part of its investment commitments in the country before the United Arab Emirates company slashed its investments in Rwanda due to the global financial crisis. Mukama emphasised that stray animals from the Akagera National Park reportedly threatened residents around the Parks. Located in the Eastern Province, the Park covers 1,200km². Out of this, 110 kilometres would be fenced by a local Engineering company, EME, in partnership with South Africa’s TNH. “We recommended that government should consider re-allocation on the RDB’s budget to settle this issue because it’s a priority and affecting (the) lives of many Rwandans,” Mukama emphasised. He acknowledged that RDB has many development activities that need to be accomplished but observed the budget is enough to cater for them. The fencing, according to Bryan Havemann, the Project Manager of Akagera National Park will protect the lives of people who live around the Parks and also curtail poaching activities. “The electric fences will tremendously help keep away the animals from attacking people but also stop people from killing the animals,” he said. Traditionally, there has been a 15 km trench and valley dams to stop wild animals from straying away from the park as they search for drinking water. Cases of wild animals wandering around was one of the major questions residents floated to H.E Paul Kagame during his visit to the Eastern Province last week. Akagera National park is now under the management of Akagera Management Company, a joint venture between Government of Rwanda and South Africa. The company is expected to turn the park into a prime tourist destination and preserve its incredible biodiversity. Ends

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Parliament wants Rwf350m allotted to fencing Akagera Park