FENCE ALONG BOTSWANA/ZIMBABWE BORDER A CHALLENGE The fence between pickets 52 and 53 along the Botswana/ Zimbabwe border is maintained continuously, but due to intensive elephant challenge, it might appear as if the fence is not being maintained; hence it is not always in good state of repair, says Assistant Minister of Agriculture the Hon. Patrick Ralotsia. Answering a question in Parliament, Ralotsia said that Zimbabwe was a Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) infected country and once cattle had crossed into Zimbabwe there was a risk of FMD transmission through contact with cattle in Zimbabwe. For continuous maintenance, he said, his Ministry had developed a fence maintenance strategy to address the current maintenance challenges, and, as part of the strategy, MoA employed farmers or livestock caretakers along the fence to participate in the fence repair. He noted that the ministry had also entered into an agreement to engage extra-mural-labour to repair the fence with Nata being the beneficiary of such agreement. He said that district offices were also being assisted with transport and three vehicles including one truck were issued to Nata district during the financial year 2013/14 to be used on FMD control activities including fence maintenance.In addition, he said that his ministry was also procuring chili pepper to be used on the fence to reduce the elephant challenge on the fence. On the other hand, he said that previous experiences with deployment of picketers along various cordon fences had its own challenges especially on issues of security and welfare leading to the ministry enhancing the participation of farmers and other stakeholders on fence maintenance. MP for Nata-Gweta Mr Polson Majaga had asked the minister if he was aware that the cordon fence between Zimbabwe and Botswana between pickets 52 (two-two) and 53 (Simataphiri) had been down ever since the last rains and as such hundreds of Batswana cattle had crossed into Zimbabwe. Mr Majaga also wanted to know when the fence would be repaired, what assistance government would render Batswana farmers to reclaim their cattle in Zimbabwe and plans in place for continuous maintenance of the cordon fence. He also wanted to know if the ministry would consider deploying personnel at all picket points along the cordon fence for continuous patrols and timely repair of the cordon fence when necessary. (BOPA)
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 18:04:35 +0000
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