12 Jun 2014

Government will replace some cattle, which died after being given to farmers as part of compensation for the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

Speaking during a kgotla meeting at Robelela in the Mmadinare constituency on June 12, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama said government was doing everything in its power to assist the affected farmers.

However, he said, not all dead cattle would be replaced as investigations would be carried out to decide which ones to replace. He said cattle in the area were killed to control the FMD, but as per farmers’ choice, they were compensated with cattle from far areas. Some of these cattle died because they were not used to the new environment.

He said, although the cattle were quarantined for two months before they were allocated to farmers, some still died while in the custody of farmers. He said some died partly due to lack of proper care and drought, adding that government was intending to assist farmers who resided at areas affected by FMD.

President Khama was responding to Mr Khuduego Kangangwane and Ms Josephine Odirile who had complained that the cattle they were compensated with died and it was not clear as to whether they would be replaced.

Still on FMD issues, the President said government was spending a lot of money to control the disease, adding that a lot of interventions had been put in place to control FMD.

He said, although most of the virus came from Zimbabwe, the two countries had agreed to share the costs. However, he said at the moment Zimbabwe did not have money to pay their share and this was a problem to Botswana.

Earlier when briefing the President, Robelela VDC chairperson, Mr Johane Thatogang thanked him for the poverty eradication and Ipelegeng programmes. 
He said about 17 Robelela residents had received houses through the President’s Housing Appeal.

However, he noted that though they appreciated Presidential initiatives, it was difficult to benefit from the LIMID programme since relevant officers took time to get them the required products especially small stock.

In response, Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Oreeditse Molebatsi said it was true that the products especially small stock were not provided on time to beneficiaries.

He stated that his ministry had decided to schedule buying period so that when they start distributing the animals they would be in place to avoid misunderstandings. ENDS