Community members warned as fire season starts

• BY MARX ITAMALO

REGIONAL councillors in the north, whose constituencies are prone to and are ravaged by wildfires, have issued warnings for their communities to be vigilant and handle fires with care to prevent environmental damage, property loss, injuries and even death.

 These constituencies are situated in the northern communal areas, and as Autumn, characterized by windy conditions, starts at the beginning of August, they typically experience fires.

Confidente spoke to regional councillor Joseph Mupetami of the Okatyali constituency in the Oshana region, whose constituency happens to be one of the constituencies that generally get affected by wildfires during the fire season, to see how his constituency is prepared to deal with the fires.

“Our first step is to always educate the community at community meetings and through the media like your newspaper and the local radio stations. The community knows the dangers that fires pose to them but it appears they forget quickly. It is thus our responsibility to remind them now and then so that they know that the fire season is upon us and that they should be careful,” he said.

Mupetami indicated that in the past, they had challenges with the Oshana Regional Council regarding efforts to fight wildfires. He stressed they had difficulties accessing fuel and bulldozers to make cut lines. Still, the situation has since changed and improved,” he indicated, noting bulldozers can now be accessed with fuel provided by the government. He added the Oshana regional council has now started engaging farmers in its efforts to coordinate wildfire fighting efforts. According to Mupetami, wildfires have in the past destroyed grazing pastures in the Okadhiya, Onoolongo, Omapopo, Omutsegwohumba, Uupumbuwaakaloko, Uulungawakolondo and Uuviya grazing areas of Oshana region. Some of these areas are adjacent to the Etosha National Park, and wild animals and game often stray from the park to hunt and graze. Large and small stock and wild animals have died due to the conflagration in the past. Otamanzi regional councillor Johannes Iyambo told Confidente this week that his constituency is prepared to combat wildfires as the fire season begins. Otamanzi and other neighbouring constituencies, such as Tsandi and Ruacana, are also prone to wildfires and have seen large tracks of land destroyed by infernos and many wild animals and livestock perishing.

“When it comes to Otamanzi constituency through the Omusati regional council is ready. We have everything prepared. Our constituency always suffer because of its location. We have conservancies and their bushy with tall grass and its here where you find also find wild animals and farmers’ livestock. They (farmers) always take them there for grazing. That’s is why it is paramount to have firefighting efforts ready in case of an eventuality,” he stressed. Iyambo told Confidente that the Omusati regional council has mobilized resources that any constituency could use should a fire hit it, such as fire engines and bulldozers.

“Apart from that, we have also started educating our people about the dangers of wild fires. We have reached out to farmers to tell their herders to be vigilant and careful about the fires they use in the bush. We have informed them (farmers) to always tell their herders to kill their fires in the bush, before they leave.”

Confidente could not obtain comments from Omusati or Oshana governors Erginus Endjala and Elia Irimari, respectively, as their phones went unanswered. However, last year, regarding the preparedness of the Omusati regional council when it comes to dealing with wildfires and the strategies in place to educate the public about the danger of wildfires, Endjala said the regional council has a disaster risk management committee which deals with disasters such as wildfires, floods and famine. He also added that the regional council coordinates with affected regional councillors to make cut lines in fire-prone areas to minimize damage if a fire breaks out. At the time, Endjala implored members of the public and farmers to be careful when dealing with fire to prevent wildfires, especially in fire-prone areas. “Prior to the fire season, we always hold workshops through our regional offices to engage the public about wildfires. This is an ongoing exercise and it helps a lot as far as fire fighting fires is concerned,” he pointed out, adding that the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) and the Namibian Police Force (Nampol) and members of the public always help out fighting fires where possible.

Romeo Muyunda of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism also told Confidente last year.  “We have an effective strategy for educating the public about wildfires and fighting them. We teach the public how to prevent the wildfires, detect them when they occur or happen, and suppress them as well.”