Bibala - The project to accommodate more than ten camels, of the fifty initially planned and coming from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is in its final phase, informed Wednesday in the south-western Namibe Province, the director of the Provincial Office of Agriculture and Forestry, Zonza Puissa.
The project, which is being carried out in the Fundão area, in the Caraculo commune of the municipality of Bibala, involves drilling water boreholes with a catchment system, submersible pumps, gravity systems and a capacity of more than 20,000 litres of water, as well as a feeding area and an administrative residence.
According to him, the work is already at 79% and the second phase of the fodder production process is underway to feed the camels.
"At the moment, we are laying the pillars for the stable areas, where the camels will spend the night and during the day they will go to pasture, with a vast area of 16,000 hectares that will allow the animals to move around at will," he said.
The official informed that the presence of camels in Namibe Province will help to boost tourism and give the fauna a new image, as they are animals that already existed in the province in the 1940s to 1990s and which delighted thousands of tourists.
He recalled that according to history, in colonial times there were camels in the province that used to go on safaris in our desert. These animals were also used as a means of transporting goods, but due to a lack of care, they began to disappear, and the last survivor, who was in the Moçâmedes Children's Park, ended up dying in the 1990s.
He emphasised that this type of animal is resilient, as it can live for a long time without water and as Namibe climate is the same as that of the United Arab Emirates, "we will not have difficulty to accommodate, live with and domesticate them".
Zonza Puissa emphasised that camels are of enormous importance to people's lives, as they provide them with different nutrients, such as milk and meat serving as food.
He said that the animals are expected to be in the country in the first half of the year, as soon as all the necessary conditions for housing and feeding them are in place.
As regards the feeding process, he said that since August last year, the sector has been producing hay, an essential product for the animals, without specifying the quantities.
FA/AC/MRA/jmc
