| Stray- catching is back in full swing in Berbice. This time, the authorities intend to make it work to deal with the problem of animals that roam the many roadways across the region.Region Six Chairman,Nike Air Max 95, David Armogan, has revealed that the mechanisms have been put in place and persons sought. The exercise will begin very shortly in the region. The initiative, this time around, is being done in conjunction with the Ministry of Home Affairs.“You would have noticed,Nike Roshe Run Sale Outlet, over the last two or three months, that the Ministry has been running newspaper ads, warning persons or owners of animals to make sure they keep them off the road”.Stray cattle by the Berbice River BridgeArmogan noted that the exercise was tested and tried in times past but that the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils used to carry it out. He revealed that there was a lot of talk about it before. “This has more or less been done by NDCs contracting stray-catchers and having them catch animals where there were reported cases of destruction of crops.“But in terms of the road,Air Max 97 Undefeated Black, I don’t think any serious exercise was carried out in this region.”This time,Air Max 97 Silver Womens, however, the Ministry of Home Affairs and police, along with the Regional Administration are getting involved.So far, he said,Cheap Air Max 90 Shoes, 12 persons have come forward, indicating their willingness to be a part of the stray- catching exercise. “We have a leader and 12 other persons and right now they have applied for their Police Clearance. Once they get that, the exercise will start”.He added that the reason for asking the stray- catchers for a Police Clearance is because “we don’t want to have criminals catching animals and so on; we want people with clean police records because you may have some people rustling cattle and so on, and we don’t want to get them on this 12- member team…We want to make sure they are clean people, who have not been previously have any encroachment with the law”.The stray-catchers will also be accompanied by police officers who will go around with them to catch the stray animals on the roads. He added that the Ministry of Home Affairs has given the initiative a truck “which is made specifically for the collection of strays on the roads. That will be coming down and we have identified a driver, so we can do this kind of work”.All animals picked up will be impounded at the nearest pound,Cheap Mens Jordan Sneakers, he revealed. The fine to the owner for each animal is $10,000. “It’s quite a lot of money. We don’t want to be punitive but we have to take steps to ensure that our roads are clear of animals.“In the past, we have had lots of accidents and people have lost their lives and limbs as a result of these animals on the road, so we have to take a step in this direction.”He stated that the government does recognise the importance of the cattle industry to the economy and “we want to encourage people to get into cattle rearing, but we don’t want animals and cattle on the road– they must be on pasture lands– or outside of the road area.”Armogan stated that it is not intended to take the initiative into every single dam and street in the region to catch animals, “because people have been asking whether this exercise will entail us running in to all the streets and dams and picking up cows; we will not do that in the initial stage. Rather we will concentrate on the public road, but if NDC’s and Town Councils request our assistance to pick up strays that are causing nuisances to their environment, then we will have to be able to respond to these requests”.For every animal a stray- catcher impounds, the group will be paid $5,000. “It can be a pretty lucrative business if people continue to leave their animals on the road, so I am hoping that in a very short while, we may not have work for these people (the stray- catchers), because people will comply with the rules and laws.” |
