Export monkeys, say MPs
OWING to the havoc Kalangala monkeys have wrecked on farms in the district, MPs on the committee of agriculture animal industry and fisheries have asked the Government to explore the possibility of exporting them.<br>
By Jude Luggya
OWING to the havoc Kalangala monkeys have wrecked on farms in the district, MPs on the committee of agriculture animal industry and fisheries have asked the Government to explore the possibility of exporting them.
The committee chaired by Deus Bikwasizehi (Buhweju), was yesterday discussing a report on vegetable oil development in the district.
“The Government should commission a team of experts to explore the possibility of having monkeys exported to neighbouring countries or to regions that consider them a delicacy, for example The Democratic Republic of Congo,’’ the report said.
“There is a menace of monkeys in Kalangala and yet they can generate revenue not merely through tourism but through export for meat to some countries,’’ Dr. Kasirivu Atwooki (Bugangaizi) said.
He, however, said the plan had to be handled carefully to avoid problems. He cited a case during Amin’s regime where monkeys were stealthily exported to Germany for research purposes but caused the Maraburg venereal disease.
The agriculture state minister Kibirige Ssebunya has on several occasions advised the residents of Kalangala to eat the monkeys.
OWING to the havoc Kalangala monkeys have wrecked on farms in the district, MPs on the committee of agriculture animal industry and fisheries have asked the Government to explore the possibility of exporting them.
The committee chaired by Deus Bikwasizehi (Buhweju), was yesterday discussing a report on vegetable oil development in the district.
“The Government should commission a team of experts to explore the possibility of having monkeys exported to neighbouring countries or to regions that consider them a delicacy, for example The Democratic Republic of Congo,’’ the report said.
“There is a menace of monkeys in Kalangala and yet they can generate revenue not merely through tourism but through export for meat to some countries,’’ Dr. Kasirivu Atwooki (Bugangaizi) said.
He, however, said the plan had to be handled carefully to avoid problems. He cited a case during Amin’s regime where monkeys were stealthily exported to Germany for research purposes but caused the Maraburg venereal disease.
The agriculture state minister Kibirige Ssebunya has on several occasions advised the residents of Kalangala to eat the monkeys.