Regional News of Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Source: GNA

Allocate specific areas for cattle rearing - DCE

Alhaji E. A. Tetteh, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Kpone Katamanso, Greater Accra Region, has tasked the Government to adopt a policy to guide cattle rearing.

He has also urged the Government to allocate specific lands for the rearing of cattle.

These measures, he said, would bring an end to the clashes between herdsmen and members of the society whose farms and property were destroyed by cattle.

The DCE made the statements in an interview with the GNA in Tema.

He said the movement of cattle to and from the kraal at Tulaku near Tema and other areas in the country would continue because cattle owners had no choice than to be in businesses.

Large herds of cattle are moved daily in the vicinity to seek greener pastures and in the process they litter the communities with their excreta and scare residents. Some cause traffic jam and destroy properties.

According to the DCE, the cattle dealers were in Ashaiman and Tema before the area was developed, after which they were moved to their present site at Tulaku.

He said there were no more lands to relocate them to as most of the lands in the area had been sold.

He said the problem would be solved if the Government allocated a permanent site for these cattle dealers so that city development would not catch up with them.

“Only then can we avoid a situation in which herds of cattle are moved through developed communities for grazing,” he said.

Mr. Malik Amegashitsi, the Environmental Health Officer, Kpone Katamanso District, said the District was aware of the health implications cattle posed to residents of the area.

He said the problem could be solved if the government earmarked a permanent site for the cattle.