Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries has pledged to construct livestock dips in every pastoralists’ village countrywide during the next five years in a move to control livestock diseases, the Parliament was told.
Deputy Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Mr Abdallah Ulega told MPs that the government was committed to ensure security and other things of such nature.
Mr Ulega said the government was well organised to ensure that dipping troughs are constructed in every district and every village.
He was reacting to supplementary question from Seif Gulamali (Igunga-CCM), who wanted to know government’s plan to build the dipping troughs to control outbreak of the diseases.
Earlier, Ndanda MP Cecil Mwambe (CCM) asked the government on the proper and implementable plans regarding the increase of animal diseases.
Mr Ulega admitted that recently there was an outbreak of swine fever in some regions and caused loss to livestock keepers. He said the disease had no cure yet, but what the livestock keepers have to do is to adhere to better practices of keeping pigs.
Mr Ulega said the government in collaboration with other stakeholders were making efforts to control that disease, including insisting the livestock keepers to use the scavenging method, stop guests from entering the pig sheds and telling the livestock keepers to spray the pig sheds.
Other measures were to issue directive of stopping transportation of pigs from affected area to another area, and livestock keepers to avoid feed the pigs leftovers from hotels and canteens.
“Livestock keepers should also give information to veterinarians immediately after they notice signs of the disease,” Mr Ulega urged, but noted that the ministry will continue with its strategy to educate the public over the disease He assured that awareness education has continued in every place with livestock keepers dealing with keeping the pigs.
