A crime

A recent foray into a project area revealed this site:

This is a drain, mechanically dug, to take roadside water accumulated in large puddles, away from the road. Where the crime comes in, is that the drain extends right across a functioning wetland, and into the stream beyond. Clearly the road contractor’s mandate was to get rid of the water by “fixing the drainage”, and that is what he did.

There is a common belief in this particular community (Ncibidawana) that all the fields and roads must be neatly drained to get rid of the water. It is a view we have heard expressed by traditional leaders, school headmasters, and local inhabitants. If only they knew the crime that this is!

There is such a burgeoning need for broad community education and consultation on these matters!