Govt to re-compensate north east farmers

| Thursday September 11, 2014 11:51

In his address during a special full council meeting in Masunga on September 4, Molebatsi explained however, that the cattle that died would not be replaced, but rather that farmers would instead be compensated in monetary terms. He said for each animal lost, farmers would receive P2,500. The assistant minister pointed out nevertheless that the arrangement was such that compensation would cover those farmers whose cattle had died from the time of restocking until February this year. So far, he said the ministry officials had registered about 1,000 cattle, whose entire compensation amount will total about P2.5 million.

Meanwhile, the assistant minister, informed the councillors about the phasing out of the current livestock identification system which involves the use of boluses. He indicated that the bolus system was being replaced with ear-tags adding that the tags would be available for purchase by individual farmers at Livestock Advisory Centres (LACs) countrywide at P20 per set.

The set, he said, would include an ear-tag as well as a microchip; explaining that the microchip would serve to store the information about the particular animal. He appealed to farmers to understand that the introduction of the new cattle identification system was not meant to make life difficult for them but was rather intended to ensure compliance with the cattle identification and traceability requirements of the European Union beef market.

When commenting after the assistant minister’s briefing, councillors expressed gratitude at the decision to compensate farmers whose cattle had died soon after the completion of the restocking exercise. Thanking government for the move, Councillor Bakani Badziili of Siviya said the development was evidence that government indeed cared about the welfare of citizens.

Badziili also commended government for its commitment to agriculture; saying such commitment would take the country far as it was clear that attaining food security was paramount to the economy of any country.

Similarly expressing gratitude for the re-compensation of farmers, Tshesebe councillor Moses Maloiso however, expressed concern that the announcement calling for affected farmers to register had not filtered down properly as some farmers ended up failing to register within the set time period. Such farmers, he said got turned away when attempting to register yet they had not been properly informed of the compensation requirements and its accompanying time restrictions. For his part, William Tatose of Senyawe also concurred that some farmers had indeed been left out. He appealed to government to do something about them as they too had suffered loss.

Farai Bonyongo of Nlapkhwane wanted to know if there were plans to assist farmers whose cattle had died after the lapse of the registration period. He alleged that some cattle continued to die to date hence the need for clarity as to whether their owners would be assisted in any way. (BOPA)