A South African firm said on Wednesday it would go ahead with plans to build two luxury hotels on the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls after the government rejected their other proposals for a golf course and villas in the national game park.
Legacy Holdings said it would redesign its $260-million project in order to accommodate concerns raised by the government and environmental groups on the possible effects the project could have on wildlife and ecological balance.
”Legacy will now begin to study the balance of the available land duly approved and earmarked for development,” said Legacy chairperson Jacob Sikazwe in a statement.
The Zambian government last month rejected the plans for the construction of 450 villas and a golf course following massive protests from environmentalists who said the 220 hectares of land given to Legacy within the Mosi-oa-Tunya national park could endanger wild animals.
The hotels are to be built on the outskirts of Zambia’s tourist town of Livingstone which borders Zimbabwe and is also close to Botswana and Namibia.
”Legacy is confident that once the revised project design has been formulated, Livingstone will still have a world class eco-friendly resort,” Sikazwe said.
Unesco had threatened to de-register the Victoria Falls from its international list of natural heritage places if the project was allowed to proceed as originally planned.
Zambia government allowed Legacy to construct the two hotels but its buildings should not exceed the tree tops and should not be visible from afar and fencing of the area will be prohibited. – Sapa-AFP