22 Jun 2022

There is urgent need to intensify surveillance to combat the Foot and Mouth disease threat from neighbouring countries.

Addressing a full council meeting on Tuesday, Kgalagadi District council chairperson, Mr Hendrick Jacobs said the Ministry of Agriculture had developed a Foot and Mouth Surveillance Plan, which the district veterinary offices were expected to implement with immediate effect.

Mr Jacobs said critical activities in the plan included detection of risks, detection of Foot and Mouth disease, provision of animal health information and monitoring of disease trend where necessary.

He risks that had been identified included border incursions, inadequate biosecurity, inadequate disease surveillance and limited information about the causes and effects of the disease.

The council chairperson said the mitigation plan also included maintenance of border fence; returning animals that crossed the border back to their country of origin; destruction of local animals affected and exposed to Foot and Mouth disease and compensation for the affected animals.

Others are disinfection of affected areas, provision of foot and vehicle baths at entry points, farm visits to audit holdings, visits to slaughter facilities to conduct ante mortem inspections, visual inspections at the border, as well as quarantine of vulnerable animals, he said.

Mr Jacobs said surveillance had been scheduled for Kisa, Tsabong, Middlepits, Bokspits, Draaihoek, Werda, and Makopong, adding that veterinary officers would  consult farmers and other key stakeholders from June - July 13.

To minimise the risks, he said farmers should herd and kraal their livestock, adding ‘we should take this warning seriously and do everything that we are advised to do as rearing of livestock remains the only major economic activity in our district’.

Meanwhile, Mr Jacobs said infrastructure development of Bray Community Farm, a project led by Ministry of Agriculture through LIMID under the Water Development for Small Herd Owners in Communal Areas package, was making headway as the paddocks were under construction.

He said the project had been awarded to HHH Drilling Company at a cost of P5.8 million budgeted for water survey, drilling and equipping, adding that so far, P1.6 million had been dispatched to the district.

Moreover, Mr Jacobs informed councillors that the company had so far surveyed two sites for possible drilling and managed to drill one borehole of 190 metres depth with an estimated yield of 15 cubic.

The borehole, he said was test pumped and had been equipped with solar panels, adding that the company was now setting up reservoirs. He revealed that the sites for the reservoirs had been identified and bush clearing along the reticulation line was yet to commence, while the contractor was at resource mobilisation stage, to get the materials and the reservoir base to arrive on site.

Mr Jacobs appreciated the Bray community for contributing towards the project by volunteering to assist with de-bushing a 1.4 km line used by the drilling vehicles.

To ensure progress, he said the Bray Village Development Committee and Farmers Committee had been trained on livestock management and group dynamics.

Meanwhile, a task team had been formed to come up with a management plan for the community farm and was expected to submit the plan by the end of June, 2022.

He said the team had already met the Bray leadership. ENDs