OSHAKATI - The Ondonga Traditional Authority has made progress in removing illegal fences within the traditional authority’s jurisdiction.
Speaking on behalf of the traditional authority, Mannetjies Kambonde said the authority has engaged the owners of those illegal fences and have subsequently removed them.
“We have removed quite a number of them and those that are still there will also be removed,” said Kambonde.
Kambonde made the revelations at a meeting with the Oshana regional leadership to mitigate drought in the region.
Kambonde, who is the personal assistant to Ondonga King Fillemon Shuumbwa Nangolo, said the authority will not entertain camping and construction of homesteads in the grazing area and advised those planning to illegally fence-off land to desist from doing so.
Oshana governor Elia Irimari, in his brief address, said there is an urgent need to address issues of water infrastructure, veldfires, rain prospects and movement of farmers and livestock into the region from the already affected drought areas.
Irimari said the region is experiencing crop failure thus far.
“Last year, we were blessed with good rainfall but the vegetation was destroyed by veld fires,” Irimari said.
The governor also expressed concern about the illegal cutting down of trees in areas such as Uuvudhiya, Okatyali and Ompundja.
The wood is allegedly chopped down for resell elsewhere.
Also of concern to the region is the uncontrollable fencing of land.
The meeting resolved for cut lines to be implemented in the grazing areas to avoid large grazing of land to be destroyed by veldfires, as was the case last year.
The participants pleaded for regulated cut lines to ensure that not only those with the resources benefit from the activity.
The cut line exercise will aid struggling farmers in need of feeding for their livestock in areas already hit by drought.
The councillor for Uukwiyu-Uushona constituency Andreas Amundjindi told the gathering that farmers have already started to migrate to the region’s grazing areas and asked for a system to be put in place to register all farmers and livestock migrating to the region.
Equally, the participants also called for all non-functioning water provisions such as tanks to be identified for urgent intervention.
They also called for water points, which are in areas to be identified.
The councillor for Okatyali, Joseph Mupetami, lauded the region for extending water pipes further into the grazing areas but pleaded for the replacement of water pipes that continue to experience low pressure to be upgraded.
nashipala@nepc.com.na