Anti Hijack Trust

ANTI-HIJACK UPDATE FOR JANUARY 2013

The New Year has started with reports of quite a few house robberies and attempted break ins.  These have happened in day light hours or dusk, just as the sun is setting.

Gangs have gained entry over the wall, or through the pedestrian gate in the gate, which may mean that staff have either been careless and left the key in the gate or left the door unlocked as there has been no forced entry.   Please make sure that all staff are made aware of this easy to make but very costly careless mistake.  There are a lot of loiterers around sitting on verges or on street corners, watching and waiting for such an occurrence.  The gangs are bold and not afraid of showing their faces ….. mostly well dressed, well spoken and almost always have a getaway vehicle waiting outside.  It is wise to keep gates firmly locked at all times. 

A case reported in Highlands of a family who have just moved into their new home and are having alterations and further building being carried out by contractors.  This means having work gangs on the property, of which you have very little control of the coming and going during working hours.  It is suggested that contractors vet staff carefully and foreman are a round to keep control. It is felt this was a tip off as the gang knew where to go to find the safe which had not as yet been secured in place and made off with it.  The children were tied up and made to lie facedown , while one was asked to show where more money and valuables where.  As it was still early the outside alarm sensors had not been put on and therefore the staff where not alerted by the alarm system, and were not aware of what was going on in the main house.   Keep the alarm on all areas of the house that are not being used.

A report of bogus police wearing the grey uniform with bibs pulling cars over, especially woman on their own, ZRP have stated that you do not pull over for any unmarked vehicle  ask them to follow you to the nearest police station, if they are not genuine police they will drive off.  This was a plain white vehicle that had no back number plates, this is scary and you therefore have to have your wits about you and act calmly and not move from your vehicle.

Gate intercoms have been blown up by fireworks, having to be completely replaced the following day, this may be pranks, but very inconvenient, and is just a warning to be alert at what is going on in your neighbourhood.

Let’s see if we can start 1213 by curbing the crime …..

Let’s ALL fight this crime together  - stay ALERT and SAFE ! 

ANTIHIJACK TRUST: Email: hijack@mweb.co.zw or hijack@zol.co.zw

Kariba Flood gates

The Zambezi River Authority appreciates all the concerns you raised following the notice we put out regarding the impending opening of the flood gates in early March.

The Authority has delayed opening the floodgates due to major structural maintenance works currently taking place at the reservoir.  It is anticipated that the works will be completed at the end of February, following which we need to ensure the solidity of the structure before we can open the floodgates. Some  of the stakeholders actually make reference to the fact that “Opening three floodgates at the same time can compromise the integrity of the dam wall,” True.  However, the remedial works currently in progress are meant to protect the plunge pool scour-hole against spill jets from the gates.  We are carefully watching the Dam Flood Control Rule Curve which requires the dam to be drawn down to below 64% live storage (484.15m level) at the end of February each year.  The current average rising rate is 2cm per day and if we factor the highly probable large inflow into the Kariba Dam due to peak inflows of the current season, that is when the necessity to open more gates might arise.

The Zambezi River Authority has a moral duty to alert all the stakeholders downstream of a potential nature-driven eventuality and not to cause alarm.  When we plan the reservoir operations, we also factor the weather, based on the information from SARCOF on the prevailing hydro-meteorological conditions on the Kariba sub-basin which indicate continued wet conditions.

At a briefing we held with stakeholders in the lower Zambezi following the opening of the floodgates in 2010, we explained the Zambezi River Authority operations and appealed to all stakeholders to move wherever possible to higher ground.  The weather patterns, due to climate change, are beyond our control and like all of you, we are grappling with coping mechanisms.  Most of you are aware that there are six gates at the Kariba Dam, which in the case of an emergency, may be opened all at once.  This is the extreme scenario which all operators in the Zambezi River Basin should be acquainted with in terms of flood preparedness.  It is unfortunate that some of the structures which are very close to the river bank might have been constructed during the prolonged drought periods, hence the situation at hand.

We fully sympathize  with all the concerns raised and we shall continue to manage the situation in such a way that our operations do not cause distruction.

Sincerely

Elizabeth M. Karonga

Public Relations & Communications Manager

Zambezi River Authority

Zim Cell +263 913002978

Zam Cell: +260 0977 318735

Direct Line +260 211 230551

Tel: +260 211 227970/1, +260 211 +260 211 228401/2

Fax: +260 211 227498

Skype: elizabeth.karonga

REFURBISHMENT OF THE SURGERY AND KENNELS AT THE HARARE SPCA

TO ALL READERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO ASSIST WITH OUR “WISH LIST” FOR THE REFURBISHMENT OF THE SURGERY AND KENNELS AT THE HARARE SPCA. We sent a letter out last week explaining the dire need to upgrade the surgery at the Harare Spca and the need to build a new convalescence block and kennels. I made an error on the email address which we are using as a contact for this project. Please contact the following if you are able to help in cash or kind christines@zol.co.zw . or email me .

Yesterday we had over 200 dogs in our care. The situation we are faced with is extremely serious. So many dogs are arriving with serious injuries.  Road traffic accidents are claiming many animals’ lives. The survivors are admitted with broken limbs and more. Some animals are neglected and are basically starving and diseased . Dogs arrive with fight wounds that are the evidence that they are living on the streets and fighting over scraps of food. Pregnant bitches are dropped off by owners that no longer want them.  Bitches and their surviving pups are found and brought into the surgery by compassionate individuals. They are emaciated and frightened ,the pups are covered in fly bites and ticks. Sadly, some do not make it . Cats and dogs are being surrendered on a daily basis.  We also have over 40 puppies in desperate need of homes. Believe it or not we have 7 JRs , one being a mum with 5 , newborn , superb puppies. Kittens of every description are waiting for homes too .The animals that are beyond help are humanely put o sleep. This is an incredibly heartbreaking, daily occurrence that our vets and management have to deal with .It is the hardest situation to decide if an animal will have a quality life in the future or if it’s time is up.

We cannot move forward and improve the situation without your help. Please give these animals a chance at a better life. They did not ask to be born . They do not understand neglect and abuse. Yet when they are adopted they become the most loyal of pets.

Contact me on 0712 404 486 if you need any information or if you can extend a compassionate hand.

Des Hacker

shacker@zol.co.zw

BLZ News

So after the visit of Dr Doug Harebottle, of the Animal Demography Unit, University
of Cape Town, we of BirdLife Zimbabwe have launched the Sabap2 Bird Atlas project co-ordinated by UCT. I have attached a flyer in the hopes you can email it out on the Hunter Association mailing list. We are looking for birders to start atlassing and sending in their bird sightings.

Please do support BLZ in our efforts to increase coverage in Zimbabwe by completing atlas cards at home or during your travels in Zimbabwe. We look forward to rolling out the atlas in Zimbabwe which will help lay the foundation to build 21st century distribution maps for the country's avifauna.

Police Warning

HI All, This was sent out by Anna Andriolakis this week to her clients in Club 50 in Bulawayo

Regards and thanks to Anna

From: Grecian Art [mailto:grecianart@zol.co.zw]

Please take note of the following Warning from Police which was published in The Chronicle on Friday 8^th of February 2013, at this point please also RENEW YOUR CAR LISTENERS LICENCE POLICE ARE AUTHORISED TO FINE YOU on behalf of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and the fine is also 100% penalty, car listeners licence is $30 for the year, the newspaper warning article reads as follows:

Police yesterday said they would not hesitate to arrest motorists with un licenced vehicles despite the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara)’s grace period.

On Monday Zinara said it would start penalizing motorists for the late renewal of vehicle registration for the just expired term after 30 days.

The bulk of licences expired on 31 January 2013 and penalty is 100% of the arrears, plus $5 administration fee.  However, in an interview the acting national traffic police spoke person, Assistant Inspector Luckmore Chakanza said the police would enforce the law as it is.

“No vehicle shall be allowed to travel on any road in the country without a valid licence.  If the traffic police meet such vehicles they will impound them and arrest the owner” said Assistance Inspector Chakaza.

He said the police would not be lenient with motorists adding that the licence discs have been available and motorists should have renewed them on time. 

“People were waiting for the licences to expire.  It would be abuse of the law if we give them a grace period.  As police we will not hesitate to arrest them.  People have a habit of waiting until the last day to renew their licences hence the congestion at the registration offices” said Assistance Inspector Chakaza.

According to Zinara more than half a million vehicles in the country  had not been licenced country wide by Monday.

Zinara chief executive officer Mr. Frank Chitukutuku said his organisation would launch a blitz on unlicenced vehicles at the end of the month.

He said the blitz would be done in conjunction with the Police, the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) and the Central Vehicle Registry (CVR).

Mr Chitukutuku said the operation would target motorists, who have never registered their vehicles since the new computerized system started operating in April last year and those whose licences would have expired.  He said by April unlicenced vehicles would not be able to use the country’s highways as the computerized tollgate system will be operational.   It is estimated that there are more than 800 000 vehicles in the country.

Zinara introduced new licence discs with high security features to curb  the production of fake discs.  Counterfeiting was reportedly costing Zinara more than $20 million in potential revenue yearly.

The new system also aims to establish and capture the actual number of vehicles on Zimbabwe’s roads.

Road licence fees are used together with tollgate fees, overload fees and transit fees to maintain the countries roads and construct new ones.

Licence discs per term are $15 for motorcycles and $20 for small vehicles.

Owners of vehicles between three and seven tonnes but below nine tonnes, the discs are $60 and those more than nine tonnes are $75.

Small trailer owners pay $15 and big trailers are charged $40