03 Aug 2020

Department of Forestry and range products has embarked on an exercise to train communities on basic fire management.

In an interview on the sidelines of a two-day training in Gweta over the weekend,  the acting sub-district forestry and range products coordinator Mr Olebile Kolojane said the aim was to  enable communities to manage veldt fires which were common in their areas.

Mr Kolojane said they had arranged teams comprising of 15 participants from each village of Gweta and Tsokatshaa. He said this was the first phase of the exercise in the sub-district adding that they would  continue to train more teams in  the sub-district particularly at Nata/Gweta constituency as an area prone to a fire disasters.

Furthermore, he said they had realised the need to put the community at the forefront of fighting veldt fires in their respective areas as they understood their areas better.

Mr Kolojane stated that they also encouraged the spirit of volunteerism among the communities. He said in previous fire disasters they had challenges of dealing with veldt fires as people were reluctant to come forth to assist.

He also noted that after completing the training, they would assist the teams to source protective clothing which they expected them to store safely for any eventualities.

Meanwhile, Gweta disaster committee chairperson Mr Ledule Baraki appreciated the training which he said gave them the skill to manage the fires.

He said the training should be extended to cattle herders and farm managers as most of the time the veldt fires began at the cattle posts and farms.

He noted that last month there were veldt fires at the northern side of the village and through the assistance of cattle herders and the police they managed to control the fire which destroyed about 20 hectares of land. Ends