© Jeannot Ries
Around 25 to 30 soldiers are currently building a fence along the Belgian border alongside a private company to prevent infected wild boars from infiltrating the Grand Duchy.
The ominous-looking fence in the southwest of Luxembourg is nearly nine kilometres long and will cost around half a million euro to be set up to prevent an outbreak of African swine fever.
On Tuesday morning, Minister of Agriculture Romain Schneider invited the press to Linger. The army is currently building the fence along the cycle route in this municipality.
If work continues at this pace, the fence should be finished by mid-May. The minister believed it is unlikely that the fence will be expanded beyond nine kilometres.
Schneider took the opportunity on Tuesday morning to stress that the fence is a preventative measure, as there have been no cases of African swine fever in the Grand Duchy. He highlighted that as minister, he has a special responsibility to ensure that farmers are not affected. Whilst the fence may not be a 100% fail-safe against African swine fever, it will minimise the risk that an infected boar will make its way into Luxembourg, according to Schneider. Schneider went on to call for solidarity from all those involved in this national issue, even farmers who may not have pig farms.
The minister also called for hunters to continue to hunt in the buffer strip, as that would contribute to the ideal scenario of no boars being based in that area. This too would massively reduce the potential for any incidents. The minister highlighted his priority to protect pig farmers in the Grand Duchy alongside the nearly 90,000 pigs owned collectively by farmers.
Schneider also stressed that African swine fever does not pose any danger to other animals or humans.
