Frederick Philander
16 June 2005
Windhoek — HE shudders at the thought that a catastrophe such as Mad Cow disease could ever strike Namibia's livestock in the way it hit Britain in 2002.
"The disease basically destroyed that country's livestock farming and cost about 12 million Pounds to resolve. Namibia does not have that kind of money and will surely economically go under," Dr Nicky Iyambo, the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, said on Tuesday in the National Assembly.
He was reacting to questions raised during the second reading debate of the Animal Diseases and Parasites Amendment Bill two weeks ago.
"I agree that Namibia is experiencing a shortage of qualified veterinarians despite the fact that there are a number of them in foreign countries such as Zimbabwe who are practising in the private sector.
These people just need to be lured to the public sector to try and resolve the shortage," Dr Iyambo said.
According to him, there is a need for a new Act despite the fact that the old Act still serves the country adequately.
"In my opinion, the so-called 'Red Line' and other cordoned areas should remain as practical measures to protect our meat markets like in countries such as Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. South Africa does not have such cordoned areas. Maybe, that is the reason for the periodic outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in that country's Kwazulu-Natal Province," the minister said.
"Someone might deliberately bring in harmful animal germs into the country, an act that can be equated to sabotage. Such persons should be severely punished by the law because they can destroy our meat market.
Namibia will definitely be out in the cold should it happen," the minister said.
He further told the House that everything possible has to be done to control animals entering the country illegally.
"These animals can bring in germs that can have a disastrous effect on the national meat market and livestock farming in the country in general.
Unfortunately, such entries cannot be controlled. They just have to be found. Otherwise, such diseases can have a long term negative effect on the meat industry in the country," he charged.
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