The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta on Tuesday announced that Namibia recorded 42 veld fire incidents in various regions between 23 and 30 September this year. Shifeta while speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday said the most affected regions by the veld fires are Kavango East, Kavango West, Otjozondjupa, Oshikoto, Zambezi, Ohangwena, Kunene, Oshana, Omusati and Omaheke. He said from January to October, 220 100 hectares burned in the Zambezi Region, 635 900 in Kavango East, 181 700 in Kavango West, 8 900 in Ohangwena, 23 800 in Omusati, 12 200 in Oshana, 86 800 in Oshikoto, 10 100 in Kunene, 875 400 in Otjozondjupa, 161 100 in Omaheke and 2 000 in the Khomas Region. ‘This presents massive damage to our environment and provides reason for all Namibians to be concerned,’ said Shifeta. The minister informed the House that prior to the start of the fire season, his ministry developed a robust fire management strategy to prevent, detect and suppress fires. The strategy has components aimed at capacitating stakeholders and the general public through education and training local communities in basic fire prevention and firefighting skills.