Problem elephants in parliament
Marauding elephants enjoyed a lot of attention in the National Assembly yesterday when the matter was brought up by Dudu Murorua, a Nudo member of parliament.
Murorua put an urgent verbal question to environment minister Pohamba Shifeta.
Murorua told the minister that he, along with other farmers in the Kunene Region, had suffered tremendous damage caused by marauding elephants, with livestock going missing after fences had been destroyed by the animals.
He said when the matter was brought to the attention of the environment ministry, they were told nothing could be done without a direct order from the director of nature conservation.
“They also told us that they do not have any transport to chase the animals away,” Murorua said.
Shifeta responded that he did not have any knowledge about the area where the incident took place and added that he did not know whether the animals were resident in the area or only passing through.
“Please provide me with more information and I guarantee that I will follow up the issue,” the minister said. He added that it was untrue that only a director in the ministry could give permission for nature conservation officials to remove problem animals. According to Shifeta, the safety of people is paramount and problems like this should be addressed as a matter of urgency.
The Speaker, Peter Katjavivi, said conflict with elephants was not a new issue and could lead to bigger problems. He suggested that an emergency telephone number be set up where these matters could be reported immediately.
To this, Murorua replied that there were no fences that could keep out elephants.
“We reported the matter to both the nature conservation offices at Outjo and Kamanjab but to date, there has been no response,” he said.
He said if there was no action by the authorities, farmers might have to take matters into their own hands and shoot the animals.
Shifeta undertook to follow up on the matter.
ESTELLE DE BRUYN
Murorua put an urgent verbal question to environment minister Pohamba Shifeta.
Murorua told the minister that he, along with other farmers in the Kunene Region, had suffered tremendous damage caused by marauding elephants, with livestock going missing after fences had been destroyed by the animals.
He said when the matter was brought to the attention of the environment ministry, they were told nothing could be done without a direct order from the director of nature conservation.
“They also told us that they do not have any transport to chase the animals away,” Murorua said.
Shifeta responded that he did not have any knowledge about the area where the incident took place and added that he did not know whether the animals were resident in the area or only passing through.
“Please provide me with more information and I guarantee that I will follow up the issue,” the minister said. He added that it was untrue that only a director in the ministry could give permission for nature conservation officials to remove problem animals. According to Shifeta, the safety of people is paramount and problems like this should be addressed as a matter of urgency.
The Speaker, Peter Katjavivi, said conflict with elephants was not a new issue and could lead to bigger problems. He suggested that an emergency telephone number be set up where these matters could be reported immediately.
To this, Murorua replied that there were no fences that could keep out elephants.
“We reported the matter to both the nature conservation offices at Outjo and Kamanjab but to date, there has been no response,” he said.
He said if there was no action by the authorities, farmers might have to take matters into their own hands and shoot the animals.
Shifeta undertook to follow up on the matter.
ESTELLE DE BRUYN
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