Government may stop cattle culling � Molao

Boniface Keakabetse | Thursday March 26, 2015 17:47

Speaking to Mmegi after addressing the North West District Council (NWDC) this week, Molao said that cattle eradication is a painful and very costly exercise. Addressing the NWDC, councillors expressed the view that the government is deliberately infecting the cattle with Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) so that Ngamiland wildlife thrives.

Molao denied this saying the government is doing all it can to save cattle.

He later told Mmegi that cattle culling is stressing for the affected farmers while government has to contend with high costs of compensating farmers. Molao said using other options other than killing the cattle is better. Mmegi had wanted to know whether government does not consider killing all the cattle in 2D veterinary zone as a measure to rid the area of the debilitating Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the district. 

FMD of SAT 2 strain broke out in Ngamiland at 2C in Habu in 2007 and ultimately spread to 2D in Kareng. FMD was discovered in Kareng in 2007 and since then there have been four outbreaks. Just recently, FMD had resurged again.  Kareng area councillor Maitumelo Segosebe told Mmegi that life for villagers in Kareng has once again come to a standstill. “We can’t move cattle or sell anyway including within Kareng village due to FMD induced cattle movement restrictions. Farmers are affected,” said Segosebe.

Addressing NWDC, Molao said so far there have been 85 cases of FMD following subsequent surveillance carried out from March 10 to 15 this year. “During vaccination we discovered other FMD cases and now the numbers of FMD cases have increased to 85 of which 45 cattle did not have  the vaccination brand. He said the ministry is concerned about the eight-year stubborn FMD adding that that they have realised that the disease’s resurgence is due to farmer’s failure to bring their livestock for vaccination.

He stated that during the inspections, in one particular crush out of 118 cattle inspected; only six had a proof of vaccination against FMD from the recent campaign translating that to only seven percent.  He said the ministry is undertaking cattle vaccination three times in a year as one of the preventative measures. Molao requested councillors to encourage their communities to bring their cattle for vaccination.

In response to councillors’ accusations that the government is behind the FMD outbreaks, Molao said the government has no plans to rid Ngamiland of cattle. “Government does not hate the Ngamiland people. We have no such plans.”  To drive his point home he said in 1995, government decided to eradicate cattle in the entire district due to the cattle lung disease outbreak but ultimately restocked the district. “If we harboured such plans, why did we restock the district?” he asked.

Molao also revealed that government is going eradicate all the cattle, which have wondered beyond the buffalo fence to prevent more FMD outbreaks. He said as per policy cattle are not allowed beyond the buffalo fence as they may have come into contact with buffaloes, which are carriers of FMD. More than 300 cattle are suspected to have crossed the buffalo fence. Molao said farmers will be compensated P 400 per beast killed.

This revelation irked Nokaneng-Habu area councillor Jerson Kazombungo who complained that killing such big numbers of cattle is tantamount to impoverishing the farmers.