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President Thabo Mbeki to open Giriyondo Border Post in Limpopo Pretoria
- South African President Thabo Mbeki will together with Presidents Armando Guebuza
and Robert Mugabe, officially open the Giriyondo border post in Limpopo (SA/Zimbabwe/Mozambique)
on Wednesday 16 August 2006. The Giriyondo Tourist Access Facility links
the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique and the Kruger National Park in South
Africa. The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP) was established through
the signing of a treaty by the Heads of State of South Africa, Mozambique and
Zimbabwe on 9 December 2002 at Xai-Xai in Mozambique and comprises the Kruger
National Park in South Africa, the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique (previously
known as Coutada 16), and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe together with
a slice of land southwards to the Limpopo River. The total surface area of the
park is approximately 40 000 km2. The Transfrontier Park aims to: - foster
trans-national collaboration and co-operation among the Parties which will facilitate
effective ecosystem management in the area comprising the Transfrontier Park;
- promote
alliances in the management of biological natural resources by encouraging social,
economic and other partnerships among the Parties, including the private sector,
local communities and non-governmental organisations;
- enhance ecosystem
integrity and natural ecological processes by harmonising environmental management
procedures across international boundaries and striving to remove artificial barriers
impeding the natural movement of wildlife;
- facilitate the establishment
and maintenance of a sustainable sub-regional economic base through appropriate
development frameworks, strategies and work plans;
- develop trans-border
eco-tourism as a means of fostering regional socio-economic development; and
- establish
mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of technical, scientific and legal information
for the joint management of the ecosystem.
President Mbeki will, upon
conclusion of this ceremony, travel to Lesotho where he is scheduled to lead a
South African government delegation to the SADC Heads of State and Government
Summit scheduled from Thursday - Friday, 17-18 August 2006. INVESTMENT
PROJECTS IN THE GREAT LIMPOPO TRANSFRONTIER PARK To date, ten projects
on R40million tourism infrastructure development, to the value of R40 million,
have been completed in the Kruger National Park as part of the GLTP development
process. The projects are: - Giriyondo Border Post.
- Upgrading
of existing access road to the proposed Giriyondo Border post.
- Upgrading
of the existing access road to the Pafuri Border Post.
- Investigation into
the development of a crossing point over the Limpopo River to link the Kruger
National Park with the Gornarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.
- Development
of the Makhadzi picnic site and interpretative centre.
- Dropping of the
eastern boundary fence of the Kruger National Park.
- Upgrading
of the S60 tourist route linking Punda Maria with the far northern area of the
Kruger National Park.
- Development of research facilities in the northern
and far-northern regions of the Kruger National Park. This presently excludes
the upgrading of the TEBA facilities in Pafuri as an alternative to the re-development
of the Bobomeni Research Camp. TEBA and the South African National Parks (SANParks)
are in the process of reaching agreement on the termination on the SANParks/TEBA
contract, which will pave the way for future use of these facilities by the Kruger
National Park as part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.
- Punda Maria
Entrance Facility.
- Punda Maria tented camp.
Issued by Ronnie
Mamoepa on 082 990 4853 Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag
X152
Pretoria
0001 15 August 2006
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