Government has admitted its failure to apprehend perpetrators of veld fires but insists that everyone has a role to play in curbing the life-threatening scourge.
Annually, lives, property, and livestock are lost to veld fires.
According to the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) 2021 Fire Veld Report, fire guards measuring 20 324.09 km were constructed across the country as one of the strategies to manage runaway fires.
The fire guards protect 1127 351.86 hectares of land.
The acknowledgment is preceded by the death of 10 people who lost their lives while trying to put out a fire at a farm in Esigodini, Matabeleland South province.
Responding to an inquiry by Uzumba legislator Simbaneuta Mudarikwa on the government’s position on curbing veld fires, minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi said, “The issue of veld fires has disturbed us a lot, especially this year.
“There are laws in place which can cause people to be arrested but mostly what is happening is that our forests have been destroyed.
“The challenge is that the perpetrators of these veld fires cannot be identified. Those fires are just witnessed.
“What is of paramount importance is not what the Government is doing in terms of veld fires but the Government can observe what is happening in all our areas.
“It requires all of us to look into the issue and own it as individuals so that our land, livestock, and fields are not destroyed.
“This is an issue for Hon. Mudarikwa, MPs, the traditional leadership, and all the communities to ensure that they put a stop to the veld fires,” Ziyambi said.
Extreme Winds
Although fireguards have been constructed around the country Ziyambi maintained that extreme winds have compounded the management of fires.
“The owners of the farms should put fireguards in place but the problem that we have is that where we even have a fireguard, because of the windy conditions, the fire will leap over the fireguard.
“Fines are in place but off the top of my head, I cannot tell what they are because there have been changes to the fines several times.
“In the past few years, these have been deterrent fines but even if we put fireguards, if we do not conscientious one another especially those that look for mice and rabbits cause veld fires willy nilly, we will not win,” he said.
Climate change experts have attributed extreme weather conditions such as heavy rains, high temperatures, and wind speed to the increase of Green House Gas emissions in the atmosphere.
