More than 10 000 hectares burn in Omaruru district

More than 10 000 hectares of grazing and natural veld were lost in fires in the Omaruru district that were brought under control on Monday night, the Omaruru Farmers Association says.

At least six farms were affected, mostly livestock farms and one game farm. On the farm Kompaneno alone, 6 000 hectares were lost. No human injuries or deaths were reported.

Up to 100 farmers and farmworkers fought the fires with their own firefighting units and fire beaters, with units from Omaruru and Kalkfeld farmers' associations brought in. Most units consist of a tank and pump mounted on a bakkie, some on a trailer. The Omaruru municipality assisted with a water truck on Saturday and Sunday until it suffered a double puncture on farm roads while approaching a fire at a game lodge outside Omaruru.

Markus Trede, an Omaruru farmer who lost about 100 hectares of grazing and whose house was threatened, said the response was hampered by poor local coordination. Trede is secretary and vice-chairperson of the Omaruru Farmers Association but spoke in his personal capacity.

Trede said farmers arriving to help were repeatedly directed to the wrong side of the fire. Farmers fight veld fires with "firefighters" – water tanks and pumps mounted on bakkies – and need to get ahead of a fire to cut firebreaks in its path.

"I myself was led long distances with my firefighter, behind the fire on three different farms, which makes no sense since we need to create firebreaks in front of the fire. As a result, we lost a lot of time and farmland," he told Erongo, Namibian Sun's sister publication.

Trede said contacts on many farms were difficult to reach and that people on site were often unfamiliar with veld fires.

"There needs to be someone on site who knows the routes and where to get water for the fire engines," he suggested, adding that some farmers, including neighbours, arrived at the fire without equipment and obstructed access without assisting.

"It's not about complicated plans or expensive equipment. It's about the basics, like being able to give clear directions. We need to practise that and help each other. 'The road where the big leopard was' doesn't help anyone to reach the fire. We've wasted so much time driving around aimlessly. We have to change that," he said.

Widespread devastation

The Omaruru fires follow months of veld fires across the region. At an emergency meeting of the Erongo Regional Council's disaster risk management committee in Swakopmund last week, chief regional officer Mupenzeni Ntelamo said thousands of hectares had burned regionally, with a figure of up to 100 000 hectares indicated, and that no account had been given for the losses. He said one fire was caused by lightning and the rest by people. He claimed that police and the directorate of forestry had taken no action against those responsible.

At the meeting, chairperson Lazarus Kanelombe asked: "Why, despite hectares and hectares of destroyed farmland, has no one been arrested and charged to date?" The meeting also heard that the regional disaster fund had N$264 000 available and that institutions required to contribute N$5 000 a year to the fund had not paid.

The action plan tabled at the meeting does not cover Omaruru. It is headed "Action plan – veld fires, Dâures and Karibib constituencies". Kanelombe told the meeting the fires in the Dâures, Karibib and Omaruru constituencies were "a regional concern" that "require a regional response".

The Omaruru Farmers Association was not represented at the meeting. The invitation, signed by Kanelombe, is dated 25 August for a meeting held two days later in Swakopmund. Comments attributed to the association at the meeting were relayed by a councillor. The chief regional officer shared the outcome with the association afterwards.

Burning issues not addressed

Trede said the plan was sound but not executable as drafted.

"Good planning alone is useless if the plan calls for firefighters, but there's no vehicle or fuel available," he argued. "We have to stop making unworkable plans because the resources aren't there. Let's be honest with each other and with those that lead our country to its best and plan what we can implement. And if we know we cannot execute a plan, we have to ask for help," he said.

He said counting firefighting units at meetings served no purpose if the units were not maintained or had no fuel or vehicles and that firebreaks around the Omaruru municipal camps had been requested early in the season but were not cut. He said communities in the communal areas at Okombahe and Omatjete had received no training or equipment and that money would be better spent buying thousands of fire beaters for those communities.

The Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs said in written responses to this publication on 12 August that its personnel were deployed at Omatjete on 6 June and at Okombahe and Omatjete on 12 July, at the request of farmers who called the military base at Karibib. It said no aircraft were used and that the force has no firefighting equipment.

Trede said farmers who lost grazing had few options. Buying feed for a full season was not economically viable, he said, and leasing land elsewhere would be difficult and expensive with a drought forecast. He said selling livestock was likely to be the only choice.