The Australian firm that sold 5,840 sheep worth P82 million to the Negros Occidental provincial government has paid a refund of P1,846,000 for the death of 51 in transit and the under-delivery of 59 others, Provincial Veterinarian Ranante Decena said yesterday.

He said that of the 5,840 sheep ordered by the provincial government, the actual number that arrived was 5,760 with 21 having died at sea during their 11-day journey from Perth, Australia to Negros Occidental, while 59 others were not on board the vessel. Thirty other sheep died during transfer from the Bredco port in Bacolod on February 8 to the Negros First Ranch in Murcia, Decena said.

However, all the sheep that died and the under-delivery were not losses to the provincial government as their cost was refunded by the International Livestock Export Property Limited of Pert, Western Australia, he said.

The sheep were covered by transport insurance, he said.

In fact, the provincial government gained additional sheep, he said, because about 10 percent of the females that arrived are pregnant and six lambs have, so far, been delivered.

Members of the Negros Occidental Sanggunian inspected the sheep at the Negros First Ranch yesterday and approved an ordinance setting the rules for their sale to local governments and the private sector, Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez said.

Alvarez said they approved the sale of the female sheep for P16,000 and the males for P25,000.

Decena said the provincial government will retain 1,000 heads of sheep for breeding and sell the rest to buyers in Negros Occidental.*CPG

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