RUNDU – The CEO of Rundu has cautioned residents to be wary of sewerage fish sold to unsuspecting consumers as river fish at the town.
Romanus Hairongo, CEO of the Rundu Town Council, has for the upteenth time cautioned gullible and unsuspecting residents at the town to be wary of fish being caught from nearby sewerage ponds and sold to residents as river fish.
Unscrupulous fishermen have for years been involved in this underhand practice, off-loading huge quantities of sewerage fish onto the market.
Last week on Thursday two men were arrested and on Sunday three women and two men were detained by security guards while they were catching fish from the sewerage pond.
The suspects were only detained briefly but were later let off the hook because they could not be charged for any specific offence by the guards.
The latest incident involving the catching of sewerage contaminated fish occurred on the estern section of the unfenced sewerage pond.
Haironga cautioned fly-by-night fishermen and others involved to desist from this illicit practice that could put the lives of residents at risk if they consume the highly contaminated fish.
“Fishing in the sewerage pond is illegal and you could be fined for doing that,” stated Haironga.
Hairongo further told New Era there are security guards at the pond who are supposed to stop people fishing from the pond though some people sneak into the sewerage pond undetected.
The suspects in the latest case of illegal fishing are residents of Tuhingireni, an impoverished settlement on the eastern outskirts of Rundu, while the others were from Kaisosi.
“We are not really sure if they sell the fish or they catch for their own consumption,” said Haironga.
When New Era interviewed the suspects they claimed they were catching the fish for their own consumption though this claim could not be independently verified.
Haironga further urged residents to be careful when buying fish. “We are cautioning Rundu residents who are buying fish on the streets to ascertain its origin because some of the fish is from the sewerage ponds and is not hygienic.”
He also appealed to those involved to desist from the illicit activity because this fish is unfit for human consumption and could lead to sickness.
Haironga said council put embankments at the pond but the culprits, “make holes in the embankment and when the water flows out of the pond the fish flows out and they trap it and that’s why we have put security to guard the pond.”
He also said the council plans to fence off the pond to prevent the community from fishing.
“We are planning to fence it off, we have built a sewerage pond on the other side of the Trans-Caprivi Highway for the towns sewerage to be pumped there as the pond where there guys were caught is supposed to be closed but our machinery to pump water to that pond keeps breaking,” he stated.