Whenever I drive anywhere these days, I scan the streets looking for the famous GMC Suburban. I mean of course the one which the authorities asked residents to be on the lookout for as it is full of explosives. I can understand the embarrassment of all those who happen to own a GMC Suburban but their cars, we can assume, do not fit the description of the sought-after one.
As if that were not enough, another matter of no small danger has just surfaced. Newspaper reports inform us of some 600 Romanian calves which went missing after being brought into the country by a local trader. The problem with the calves is that they are all sick with a rare disease.
Any comparison between the Suburban and the calves will reveal that searching for missing calves is bound to be much easier than hunting a Suburban. Our streets are full of such vehicles but a Romanian calf in the road would be instantly recognizable.
Unfortunately, before the searches for the boobytrapped vehicle and the several hundred calves were over, a third party entered the scene and further complicated everything.
The Customs Department was said to be searching for a merchant who had imported large quantities of bad meat into the country and then disappeared without a trace. The department began the search after learning that the merchant had not responded to the numerous notices and letters sent to him. It is interesting to note that it is the merchant who is being sought rather than the rotten meat which might be a danger to consumers. The reason is simple: Customs is concerned with chasing traders instead of meat which might prove difficult to locate. It might well require emptying consumers’ stomachs.
While certain people driving cars packed with explosives are bent on killing, maiming and terrorizing the public, those who are willing to make money by endangering the health of the public are committing a crime no less terrible. They are committing economic terrorism and manipulating loopholes in laws to import what may be dangerous and even fatal to consumers. They should be treated the same way the Ministry of the Interior deals with terrorists — hunted down and brought to justice, their names and pictures published for all to see and their commercial licenses revoked. Failing to face corruption will only worsen the situation. Our experience with handling the outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever should serve as an eye opener.
