OPPOSITION Leader, Hon Jeremiah Manele suggests tougher penalties to protect wildlife.

He was speaking during the debate of the 2016 Wildlife and Protection Bill in parliament yesterday.

“In terms of the penalties and offences in the Bill, while these have been considered and provided taking into account penalties in other similar domestic legislations, we would have also benefited from a comparative analysis of such penalties in other international jurisdictions”

“Generally our penalties are much lower compared to other countries. We may need to have higher penalties to serve as a deterrence”, he said

Hon Manele as he concludes his contribution towards the debate states that it is important that the Ministry include the common local names of the species listed in the Schedules to the Act so that we understand them.

“I am not sure whether we have pidgin names for some of these species but I am sure the Minister as usual is more than prepared to tell us when we come to the Committee of the Whole House,” he said.