THIS POTENTIALLY DEADLY PRACTICE MUST END NOW
What you need to know:
- Health experts say the consumption of fish caught through the use of chemicals is a major cause of cancer and reproductive complications, but does anybody care
The use of potentially harmful substances to catch fish in major water bodies in the country is a problem that has stubbornly refused to go away despite assurances by the government that it is doing all in its power to stamp out the scourge.
Health experts say the consumption of fish caught through the use of chemicals is a major cause of cancer and reproductive complications, but does anybody care?
It is an open secret that unscrupulous fishermen use pesticides and other harmful substances to catch fish, which is then sold to unsuspecting consumers.
The absence of random testing of fish samples caught in lakes and even the Indian Ocean is partly to blame for the prevalence of the use of poison in fishing.
The Livestock and Fisheries ministry and agencies such as the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority should fully enforce existing regulations and come up with additional measures to curb this dangerous practice.
The problem refuses to go away largely because of regulatory shortcomings.
Ignorance is also to blame for the continued use of poison to catch fish. While many fishermen who catch fish this way know exactly what they are doing and are aware of the dangers posed by their actions, some wrongly think that it is perfectly safe to use chemicals to catch fish.
Their flawed argument is that chemicals used to kill pesticides attacking food crops can also be used to kill fish. It clearly shows the level of ignorance among fishing communities insofar as the use of harmful substances is concerned.
Measures promised by regional authorities in the Lake Zone are a step in the right direction, and should help to address the problem at least in Mwanza Region to start with.
It has been rightly observed that there is a need to conduct extensive campaigns to educate fishing communities from the village level on the dangers of fishing with banned substances.
A REMINDER ON ROAD SAFETY
Tanzania’s roads have once again lived up to their dubious reputation as some of the world’s most dangerous.
In a continuation of carnage on the country’s roads, seven people died in Simiyu Region on Sunday evening when a speeding lorry hit an overloaded motorised tricycle, popularly known as bajaji. And yesterday, prominent academic Honest Ngowi and his driver were killed when a container fell off a lorry, and crushed their car in Mlandizi, Coast Region, as they travelling to Morogoro from Dar es Salaam.
In both cases, the overriding factor was human error, which is blamed for almost 90 percent of all road accidents happening in Tanzania.
In the Mlandizi accident, police confirmed that the container was not properly secured on the trailer. It was sheer negligence that needlessly cut short the lives of two energetic Tanzanians.
Fatal road accidents are happening with alarming frequency, but we will not tire of reminding the relevant authorities to continue providing road safety education, and at the same time ensure that the law is followed to the letter. Road users, particularly drivers, should remember that they are key players in the whole road safety equation.
