The Ministry of Agriculture’s Brucellosis Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC) recently received a boost. This is through the donation of two sets of portable race from the New Zealand Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).

Acting Director Animal Health and Production Division, Avinesh Dayal received the two portable race.

It included a set of trailers and stock yard to be used while carrying out Brucellosis and Tuberculosis testing at the Ministry’s Koronivia Veterinary Laboratory on Thursday.

Mr Dayal said the assistance from the New Zealand Government through MFAT would assist officers on the ground carry out BTEC testing.

“This assistance will assist the staff on the ground in testing animals especially with Tuberculosis and Brucellosis,” he said.

He said the portable race would ease farmers’ work as they would no longer have to make their own stock yards;                    “Currently, when we go out to test the animals, the farmers have to build their own temporary stock yard to get their animals in for testing, which was risky sometimes as the temporary stock yards were not that strong.”

“Now the farmers do not have to build temporary stock yards because we will be taking our own portable stock yard to individual farms,” he added.

The Acting Director thanked the New Zealand Government and the MFAT for assisting the Ministry of Agriculture in eradicating Tuberculosis and Brucellosis disease in Fiji.

MFAT Senior Development Program Co-ordinator, Christine Serreyn said they were working together with the Ministry of Agriculture in terms of providing technical support to the Ministry’s officers to ensure the Eradication of Tuberculosis and Brucellosis.

“We are very happy to work with the Ministry of Agriculture to support the work they are doing to eradicate TB and Brucellosis. And by providing these equipment, it will make the work easier for the officers in the field because BTEC testers have a very difficult task when dealing with cattle,” she said.

“MFAT really believes in this strong relationship and New Zealand as an agricultural country. We really believe that this is an important sector for Fiji, so we are glad to assist the Agriculture sector in Fiji,” she said.