AGRICULTURE MINISTRY DO SOMETHING WITH CATTLE: SASAKO
The cattle project at West Kwaio, Malaita province has faced difficulties. Photo credit: SIBC.
A former politician has called on the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to take drastic actions in saving the remaining cattle shipped to West Kwaio in November last year.
The cattle was imported in 2012 from Vanuatu – a government effort to revive the country’s cattle industry.
But Alfred Sasako told SIBC News, he met a farmer who for the third time consulted the ministry on what to do with the remaining cattle.
He says the farmer told him that more than half of the 1-hundred and 39 herds of cattle have died from starvation.
He says this is serious and the ministry has to do something fast.
“The ministry need to do something and do it fast to save them because the farmer said less than 2-hundred herds remain and they are also affected, so unless we move in to save them, then the potential backlash we are facing is once the International Community, particularly people like RSPCA hear about this kind of thing they could force people not to sell any animals to us because we don’t have the duty of care in looking after these animals.”
SIBC News understand, Senior Livestock Officer for Malaita Province, Nelson Bofelo has also reported in early February that the cattle faced nutritional and dehydration problems.