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Friday, October 3, 2003 - Web posted at 11:37:32 GMT Ostrich carnage in South CHRISTOF MALETSKYAT least 14 000 ostriches, worth an estimated N$32 million, have died in the South because farmers had no access to fodder. |
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Communal and commercial ostrich farmers confirmed to The Namibian that the birds died in their thousands, often suffering a slow, agonising death. They say bureaucratic wrangling prevented them getting access to a N$14 million loan Government gave to the industry earlier this year. "We have lost between 13 000 and 14 000 ostriches because the birds did not get a balanced diet and the restructuring of the industry took too long," said Pieter de Lange, Managing Director of Domesticated Ostrich Products (DOP) at Mariental. He said cold conditions also played their part in the big die-off. Salmaan Jacobs of the Karas Communal Ostrich Farmers' Trust (KOFT) blamed the deaths on internal politics. Jacobs said the communal farmers wanted N$2,5 million as operation capital from the loan but this was rejected by Cabinet on the recommendation of a technical committee which investigated the needs and future viability of the ostrich industry. The committee is comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Western Trading Corporation and Namdeb. Jacobs said the technical committee was not aware of how the industry operates and had suggested to the Cabinet that the communal farmers buy 10-month-old birds from commercial farmers instead of raising one day old chicks themselves. When the communal farmers refused to buy 10-month-old birds, the technical committee recommended that Cabinet withhold the money from the farmers, he alleged. "Ostriches are very sensitive. Therefore we opted for day-old chicks that we can raise ourselves. We must know the birds and their history to farm well. The chicks also get used to the environment quicker than the older birds," said Jacobs. "We think that the technical committee is protecting the interests of the commercial farmers. They are using us to source the money from the Cabinet but we do not see the money," he said. Last week Cabinet reiterated it had given a N$14 million guarantee to the Karas Communal Ostrich Farmers' Trust (KOFT), but added that it was subject to certain conditions. The N$14 million was given as part of the restructuring package for the ostrich industry. Agriculture Minister Helmut Angula told Cabinet that the DOP and Charney ostrich companies complied with the conditions, and that their ostrich production continued according to a downsizing programme. KOFT farmers, however, opted not to follow agreed steps aimed at establishing the industry, Angula told Cabinet, according to a Government press statement. Jacobs claimed the Cabinet statement was based on false information from the technical committee. "We have a problem with the way information is forwarded to Cabinet and cannot blame Cabinet for the decisions it takes," he said. He said KOFT had presented their audited annual financial statements and repaid a N$1,6 million loan they received earlier. "We have proven that we can be trusted. I wonder where we went wrong to be punished like this," he said. Between November and May this year, the ostrich industry had already lost up to N$20 million due to the shift in the exchange rate and negative market conditions. Director of Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture, Roth Kegel, refused to comment on the KOFT allegations in detail. Kegel, who served on the technical committee, said the KOFT allegations were just "opinion" and claimed they were baseless. |
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