Stampede for phane harvest permits

Last week Friday alone, the office issued over 800 permits having opened the office around 5am. There was stampede by the office’s entrance on Monday as some phane or caterpillar harvesters arrived as early as 2am so that they can be the first to be assisted.

This led to an accident in which one phane trader was hit by a passing vehicle and was hospitalised. Heavily loaded vehicles of people going to camp in the bushes had lumped around the area even obstructing the road users. As it got hotter, harvesters pushed the gate to force entry.