Roep om waterputten in Chiyabi (Zambia) - Putten moeten voorkomen dat mensen water halen uit Lake Kariba en door krokodillen worden aangevallen

Frequent crocodile attacks on Lake Kariba worry

Malima councillor

17-12-2009 The Lusaka Times, Zambia


A civic leader in Sinazongwe has implored government to sink boreholes in Chiyabi area of the district to avert deaths of people resulting from crocodile attacks on Lake Kariba.

Malima ward councilor, Fisher Zimaana, said in a statement to ZANIS in Choma today that innocent lives were being lost almost on a weekly basis as people try to fetch water from the crocodile-infested lake.

He said the number of incidences involving women being killed by crocodiles while fetching water from the lake has become a source of concern and required urgent government’s attention.

Mr Zimaana said it was disheartening to see children being orphaned after their parents have been caught and killed by the reptiles while drawing water.

He said last week alone, two people were killed in separate incidences in Chiyabi area. He said a woman of Sianyuka village has left behind four children after being mauled and killed by the crocodile as she was drawing water from the lake.

“Sianyuka village has no borehole and yet these are some of the contentious issues we have been advancing on the effects of the displacement of the Gwembe valley,” he said.

Mr Zimaana said another man died while fishing on the lake after being caught by a crocodile.
The councillor said several herds of cattle have similarly been lost through crocodile attacks.

He appealed to the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to listen to the pleas of the valley people over the swelled number of crocodiles.
He said there is need for ZAWA to consider cropping the reptiles to help minimize loss of human life.

(Bron: http://www.lusakatimes.com/)
(Bron foto: Lusaka Times)