http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Hun ... 82931.htmlBy Sue-Ann Wayow
sue-ann.wayow@trinidadexpress.comStory Created: Oct 2, 2013 at 12:56 AM ECT
Story Updated: Oct 2, 2013 at 12:56 AM ECT
THE implementation of a two-year moratorium on hunting that began yesterday will create an administrative mess, not just for hunters but all pet shop owners and persons with pet birds, including parrots.
This is according to Buddie Miller, delegate for external communication for the Confederation of Hunters Association for Conservation of Trinidad and Tobago (CHACTT).
Yesterday was supposed to have been the official “opening day” of the hunting season. But on September 19, Minister of Water Resources and the Environment Ganga Singh announced the two-year moratorium during a post-Cabinet news conference.
Disgruntled hunters have complained that the moratorium will be more destructive to the wildlife population and would encourage lawlessness.
In South Trinidad, stickers have been posted in public places stating: “No hunting, no vote.”
Miller said CHACTT was not responsible for the posters but hunters had the democratic right to express themselves.
He said the main problem with the law was that there was no specification of the type of animals that could be kept by its owners.
“If you have a parakeet at home, if you have a bull finch, your brother or dad or whoever, he becomes an outlaw as of midnight tonight,” Miller said on Monday. “Every pet shop owner who has closed his pet shop this evening with his birds and local animals in the pet shop will become an outlaw as of midnight tonight, because the law says that he cannot now possess those creatures.
“It is going to create a horrible administrative mess because there are game wardens and there are honorary game wardens who are supposed to uphold the law, who will tomorrow discover that those birds in cages are no longer legal.”
Miller asked: “What will they do? Go and lock up everybody, bring everybody before a magistrate or we ignore the nonsense that the minister has done?”
Minister in the Ministry of the Environment Ramona Ramdial had said the main challenge for the Government during the moratorium would be illegal hunting.
“The challenge, however, is the illegal hunting aspect. That is something that will need to be monitored and enforced with a partnership with the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry Division and National Security also.”
Not everyone was fully aware of what the law stated and this was a problem for many, Miller said.
Tahir Ali, public relations officer for the St Patrick’s Hunters Association, said several hunters went to the Ministry of Agriculture’s office to obtain their hunting permits on Monday.
Ali said: “According to the law, he (Singh) is supposed to give 40 days’ notice, according to the Wildlife Act, through the electronic media and to Parliament that he is going to close the season, which he did not do officially. The guys who went down today said if they don’t get the permits, we are going to file an injunction.”
President of the South Eastern Hunters’ Association, Mohan Bholasingh, said: “CHACTT is at this point in time seeking legal advice on the way forward in dealing with this hash, unprogressive, burdensome ban on hunting. Our directions would be guided by this collective decision. I must, however, state that if the honourable minister fails to reconsider his position on imposing the hunting ban, what appears to be the decisions of individual hunters may well develop into an orchestrated no-vote campaign.”
