adminProsper Ndlovu Senior Reporter
THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has sent a team of inspectors to the Hwange National Park to assess the impact of cyanide poisoning on water sources to ensure preservation of public health and avert human deaths. The assessment follows a visit to the park at the weekend by a high powered delegation led by four Cabinet Ministers, which sought to investigate the poisoning of about 81 elephants.
The delegation was made up of Cde Saviour Kasukuwere(Environment, Water and Climate), Engineer Walter Mzembi (Tourism and Hospitality Industry), Cde Kembo Mohadi (Home Affairs) and Professor Jonathan Moyo (Information, Media and Broadcasting Services).
Also present were members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) led by Deputy Commissioner General Innocent Matibiri, Environment Management Agency officials and other wildlife management officials.
The delegation assessed the park during which they had a view of some of the carcasses of the elephants, which were poisoned by poachers using cyanide.
In an interview in Bulawayo yesterday, Matabeleland North Provincial Medical Director Dr Nyasha Masuka said health inspectors from his ministry were sent to the park to take samples of water sources and the environment to ensure that members of the public were safe.
(“We are on high alert as a ministry about the cyanide poisoning at the Hwange National Park. Probably this has affected the environment and the general ecosystem. We have sent a team of health inspectors to the park to assess the situation and take samples to see if the water sources are safe,” said Dr Masuka.
“We expect our inspectors to submit a report on their findings today so that we take appropriate measures to ensure that the public is safe.”
Cyanide poisoning poses a challenge in that it also kills untargeted wildlife and poses a risk to human life as well.
The Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Matabeleland North, Cde Cain Mathema, also called for a thorough investigation on the issue.
“This is a critical issue and we would want to know how far the investigations are going. We want to know whether this was just an accident by genuine poachers or it was a deliberate ploy by some people who want to embarrass the country,” said Cde Mathema.
During the visit on Saturday the ministers also assessed the parks and wildlife conservation capacity to make sure that such a disaster would not happen again amid revelations that the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority had inadequate manpower as there were only 43 rangers in the area, which requires 120 rangers for patrols.
The park also has 40 boreholes whose diesel powered plants need 20 000 litres per month but is not readily available.
The delegation visited salt pans or salt licks and in one area there were more than 15 carcasses of elephants some of which at an advanced stage of decomposition.
In one instance there were remains of vultures and small animals that could have eaten the elephants or visited the salt pan.
The police have so far arrested 16 poachers in connection with the poisoning incident, which has been described as the worst conservation disaster in Zimbabwe’s history.
Environmentalists say cyanide can be assimilated in crops and ground water and can affect an even a wider area from where it was administered.
Online Reporter