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dam-l Community Presentation on Lesotho/LS (fwd)



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Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 08:37:36 -0800
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Subject: Community Presentation on Lesotho/LS
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This presentation was made by Malisemelo Didian Tao,  a woman representing
Makotoko Village, Lesotho
Highlands who was resettled to make way for Mohale Dam, at the recent NGO
sponsored hearings on dam affected people. The hearings were in Cape Town,
and the results are being submitted to the World Comm. on Dams.


A REPORT MADE BY DIDIAN MALISEMELO TAU TO THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN HEARINGS FOR
COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY LARGE DAMS

My name is Malisemelo Didian Tau. I come from Makotoko Village, Maseru
District and Lesotho Country.  I am one of the peoples who are affected by
Mohale Dam.  Mohale Dam is still under construction.

We were born at Molika-liko haTsapane and we grew up there until the 9th
June 1998.   We had mealie lands, gardens, fruit trees, wood trees, forests,
kraals, stables, pastures as well as buildings for ourselves e.g. grass
rondavals, flats etc.  We were able to make fires inside our buildings and
our children got warmth in winters.  We fished fishes from Sinqunyane and
Likalaneng rivers.  We sold fishes among ourselves because we had not yet
places to sell them.  We also ate fishes’ meat.  We had clean and fresh
water from our springs and wells for cooking and drinking.  We had dams and
rivers for our stock farming and washing.  We had enough vegetation for
medicines, wood and animals.  We had also enough pastures for our stock
farming.  Our mealie lands, gave us satisfied crops and money when we sold
our crops.  Gardens gave us satisfied vegetables and money when we sold our
vegetables.  We were able to pay school funds for our children by selling
our crops and our vegetables.  Our cattle helped us to bury died persons.
Our sheep helped us for our daughter-in-laws and new-born babies because we
slaughtered them for them as it is our Sotho Customs to do so.

We sold our stock farming to get money, meat skins and wool.  We sold meat
and wool and got much money .  We had enough wood from our forests for
making fire and cooking.  We also got wood from vegetation.  We had fire
places inside and outside the buildings.  When it was windy or rainy, we
made fire inside our buildings without spending money for paraffin and gas.
We were not helped by the government like other places by mealie-meal and
water because we had enough food and water.  We did not starve because we
used agriculture to survive.

The L.H.D.A Project come in 1995 and told us to move from our places because
they will build a dam there which will help the R.S.A by water.  The
factories and industries of R.S.A need water to proceed their work.  We
disagreed to move away there according to the life we survive there. L.H.D.A
project promised to beautify our lives more than what we had. Promised to
increase our buildings.  They said we are few and they can help us but the
people who need our water, are many and it is difficult for them to help
them because they are many.  If we move away there, and the project build a
dam there, that water can save many people's lives.  We agreed to move away
there to save many people's lives with our water and we hoped that the
project will be trusted to satisfy us with all that it promised to do for us
because we save many people's lives.  We made a motto that "few people's
agreed to move away from a place to save many people's lives".  We sang that
motto in our minds until now.  We said when a driver drives a car on the
road and meets twelve persons on the road, two persons standing on the left
hand side and ten persons standing on the right hand side, the driver will
decides to drive to two persons than to drive to ten persons because the
compensation of two persons is less than the compensation of ten persons.
That is why we decided to move away from our original place to the new
place.

The project promised us to give satisfied compensation for our mealie lands,
gardens, kraals, fruit trees, forest and wood trees.  It is said the
compensation for these would satisfy each and every person who resettles
from that place.  We signed down the forms for the compensation for each of
these goods and we were satisfied by the compensation. L.H.D.A Project said
it would build our buildings at the new places where we resettles to and it
would increase each and every person's buildings .  It said the money for
the compensation of mealie lands and gardens would be for fifty years.  The
money for the compensation of fruit and wood trees would be increased and
there would be a stove inside each and every house at the new built place.
Half built buildings would be paid by money and not to built.

It said, there would be enough water where we go.  Persons who did not have
mealie lands would get compensation for ten year because they ploughed
share-cropping with persons which had mealie lands and could be able to
survive at their original places.  They said the men and women who resettled
by the project would get work from the project.  It promised to build
schools for our children, clinics, give food for our animals, money for
vegetation and pastures where we move to.  We signed down for all these and
we got forms.

We agreed with the project to resettle to the new place on the 10/06/1998.
When we research at our destination, we found that there is no water until
now.  We have a great problem of water at the new village.  We get water
from the river by wheelbarrows.  We drink water from the river and the river
is very far from us.  We walk many kilometers from the river pushing heavy
buckets of water on wheelbarrows and also on our heads.  Our buildings rate
not yet finished to be build and it is a strike to finish them e.g. house of
Sir Sebili Tan was not finish to be build, Sir Maile Maile was at Sir Sebili
Tau's one roomed house on 8/11/99 and disagreed to finish up Sir Sebili
Tau's house by two rooms, whereas the peoples which were equal to Sir
Sebili Tau's building have three roomed houses at different places and had
equal measurements of buildings at Molika-liko ha Tsapane.

There are no stoves inside these new houses.  We make fire outside even if
its rainy or windy because it is unable to make fires inside these houses.
We are not satisfied with money for the compensation of our gardens
according to the agreements signed on the 8/12/1997. Sir K. Sefeane the head
of Mohale Office at Likalameng shared the money of gardens to the
compensation of mealie-lands.  We are surprised because we don’t know with
whom Sir Sefeane shared our money and broke the agreements made without
telling us.  The money for the compensation of gardens is different with
that we signed for, on the 8/12/1997.  He changed the agreements made and
changed it alone without the owners of the gardens.  He also changed the
time of the compensation of gardens to one year whereas it was signed for
fifty years.  We tried to claim our compensation for gardens as we signed
for it on 8/12/97 and we have documents signed with us but Sir Sefeane said
the people signed these agreements on the 8/12/97 did wrong.  He was not
there in that year, now he is changing that agreements and he is decreasing
these compensations of gardens.  He decreases them very much.

Sir Sefeane says if somebody has a garden more than 400 sqm, by 6.50.88 sqm,
he compensate only 400 sqm and 250.88 falls under the compensation of mealie
field which is R4.66 per 100 sqm.  He says 100sqm for the garden, is R7
761.00 but this rate does not work to all square meters a person has.  It
works to other square meters and does not work to other square meters.  He
said we should not sell our vegetables we should only eat them and it is not
their fault that we sold vegetables, they only compensate 400sqm whether a
person had a garden of 900.61sqm.

We want our money for the compensation of our gardens as we signed with out
being shared and decreased to the mealie-lands compensation.  We also want
to bank our money for compensation in our banks in order to see how much
does it increases and how much is its balance.  The project changes the
workers every day and these new workers change the agreements made and
signed each and every day that is why we want our compensation at once
because we see that, finally we shall not get our compensation at all
according to this changing of workers and agreements signed every day.

We did not get money for the compensation of our fruit trees, forest and
wood trees for ten years as it was signed.  Sir K. Sefeane changed this time
from ten years to one year.  We want our compensation for these for ten
years as it was signed.  We want five fruit trees every person as it was
signed by the project.  Our sites are very small we don’t have places for
our animals and kraals inside them.  This 30x30sqm is very small we were
promised to get 300sqm for the gardens in these sites but we didn’t get them
we are still asking for them from the project.

We were given potatoes and fruit trees and we thought that it is where the
project beautifies our lives but we were surprised to be told that we must
pay for them and we ask ourselves where the project beautifies our lives
according to the agreements signed.

The compensation for the resettlement is being paying satisfactory by the
project according to our agreements but other compensation are badly paid
and without the agreements.  Kraals and stables compensated satisfactory.
Our motto is already working on the other side and not working at the other
side because thousands and thousands of peoples are already working at
Mohale dam, working for their wives and children.  They get money for their
houses whereas the owners of that place resetted by L.H.D.A have tears
running on down their cheeks every day.

We are not sure that these compensations left, will be paid right according
to this badly paid compensation of gardens and not right finishing up of
houses left.

We ask the workers of L.H.D.A Project not to change the agreements signed
down in previous year each and every day because this deed makes us to be
thunder heads and not to be controlled.  They must fulfill what is signed
down not to change what is signed down.  We ask the project to make at least
one tap inside our new village because a human being is a human being by
water.

We shall be very glad if the L.H.D.A Project can work friendly with us and
fulfill what is said to us.  Secondly, if it can build our buildings left,
honestly and kindly.  We shall be pleased also if we can get our
compensation of our rights in our hands.  The soil is on everlasting
property and it is for generations and generations.  When we don’t get
enough compensation for our soil e.g. mealie lands and gardens, it is the
death of our children and the death of coming generation because they would
have nothing to help them survive in their future.

Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen
Didian Malisemelo Tau

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Liane Greeff
Environmental Monitoring Group,
PO Box 18977  Wynberg, South Africa, 7824
E: liane@kingsley.co.za Tel: +27 +21 7610549/788 2473 Fax: 762 2238
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