Opposition MP Joseph Nand has warned that stray animals pose an escalating threat to motorists and farmers across the Western Division, calling the situation a national safety and justice crisis.
Speaking in Parliament last week, Mr Nand said the country often focuses on potholes and deteriorating infrastructure, but the real danger on major highways is far more startling.
“We often speak of the infrastructure in the House, we speak of potholes and bridges. However, the most dangerous obstruction on our Queen’s Road and King’s Road today are not potholes,” he said.
“It is a 500-kilogramme bull, standing invisible in the middle of the tarmac at 2 a.m., waiting for an unsuspecting family to drive into it.”
Mr Nand said vast stretches of the Western Division have effectively become “hazard zones,” listing a long line of high-risk areas from Maui Bay to Yaqara.
“The reality on the ground: the ‘killing field’,” he said.
“I have driven these roads at night, and many of us have. You grip the steering wheel a little tighter. You scan the verge of the road, not looking for scenery, but for a flash of the eyes in the headlights.”
He told Parliament that the devastation from such accidents is often “total,” with families losing breadwinners, tourists suffering injuries, and vehicles left in ruins.
But what angers the public most, he said, is what happens after the crash.
“The police arrive, they look at the animal and are silent. Why? Because no one owns the animal. Suddenly, it is a ‘ghost animal’,” Mr Nand said.
“Unscrupulous owners have deliberately not branded the animal to avoid registration fees or taxes, so the police cannot charge anyone.”
He said unbranded livestock leaves victims without compensation and offenders unpunished, calling it “a failure of the justice system.”
Mr Nand also highlighted the agricultural impact, describing the “heartbreak” suffered by farmers whose crops are destroyed overnight by stray cattle.
“Imagine the heartbreak of a farmer… he spends months toiling in the sun… then in one night, a herd of stray cattle breaks through the weak fence and by morning, months of hard work are gone,” he said.
Mr Nand urged government to act decisively to protect lives, property, and livelihoods from what he described as a worsening national crisis.
