Runesu Gwidi Herald Correspondent
Traditional leaders in Bikita have been warned against haphazardly resettling people, and fuelling deforestation in the district. The development comes as some chiefs and village heads in Bikita have been blamed for aiding the rampant logging by people who were resettled without authority from the District Lands Committee. Bikita Rural District Council chief executive Mr Peter Chibi last week urged traditional leaders to follow the right procedures when resettling people in their areas of jurisdiction.

“As council we are totally against environmental degradation and wanton cutting down of trees by people establishing new settlements. We have a very serious problem due to the way some people are being resettled by traditional leaders in the district,’’ he said.

“Council is concerned about the rampant cutting of trees and practices such as stream bank cultivation, which in the end cause environmental degradation.’’ Mr Chibi said his council was not at war with traditional leaders but wanted the haphazard resettling of people to end.

He added that chiefs and village heads should work closely with the District Land Committee when parcelling out land to new settlers.

Bikita Ward 15 Councillor, Cde Ishmael Kanjera under Chief Mazungunye accused some traditional leaders in the district of receiving bribes to facilitate illegal resettlement of people.

He said illegal land allocations were causing unprecedented deforestation in Bikita District and called for punitive action against the perpetrators.

Councillor Kanjera, who is also the District Environmental Conservation Committee chairperson, said councillors’ hands were tied and they could not deal with corrupt chiefs and village heads decisively.

He said there was need to embark on awareness campaigns to sensitise traditional leaders on the need to preserve the environment.