Omauni
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) strongly suspects there was foul play at work in the mysterious veld fire that ravaged Okongo Conservancy and six nearby quarantine camps.
The fire that started over a week ago was only extinguished on Friday by a team of police and environment ministry officials.
MET spokesman Romeo Muyunda said foul play is suspected, as there were human footprints detected near where the fire started in the conservancy and at the quarantine camps.
“Where the fire began, there were human footprints. We suspect that maybe it was caused by either a [discarded] cigarette or intentionally, but no one has been arrested yet,” Muyunda said.
He said a lot of damage has been caused to vegetation that the wildlife animals feed on, although no mortalities were recorded.
When New Era visited the area a week ago flames were still raging wildly and veterinary officials were hard at work trying to extinguish the fires, while the camps were still engulfed in flames.
“We tried our best to stop it, but the fire blazed on for days now. We’re still trying our level best to douse it,” said one of the officials, who declined to give his name.
He said the officials were dispatched to the affected areas in the nick of time to help put out the furious fire. “At the quarantine area, about six camp have been destroyed, while at the conservancy the entire field was destroyed,” said Muyunda.
“The officials have been hard at work and police officers were also called in to investigate the issue. No arrests have been made so far, but they said human activities were involved in both fire incidences,” Muyunda said.
The value of the entire camp – which is situated in the Okongo Constituency of Ohangwena Region – is N$5.6 million. Its establishment is in line with government policy of bringing services closer to the people.