Eco-friendly project for encroachers stalls

Challenge. Residents have opened bank accounts and prepared land for the project but the money is not forthcoming.

Communities around Lake Victoria in Masaka and Rakai districts that encroach on natural resources are disappointed after a government project, which would have given them alternative means of livelihood, failed to kick off.
The project under the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project II (LVEMP II) was approved two years ago to protect the natural resources.
Last September, the approvals were confirmed and financial agreements signed but residents say they have never received any money since then.
Some had prepared land and opened bank accounts for the projects.
“We had already identified areas to put up bee hives and installed poles to hang them but we have been waiting for money to buy hives and sieves,” Mr Deo Kiwanuka, the team leader of one of the groups in Bisange Village in Masaka, said.
The group of 90 members hopes to have 90 bee hives if they receive the Shs54 million they applied for. Each hive costs Shs95,000.

Consequences
“We no longer want to encroach on our wetlands and forests. It destroys our environment. We are now experiencing water scarcity in this area,” Mr Kiwanuka said.
Another beneficiary, Mr Edward Kasule, said the bank is threatening to close their account if it is not activated soon.
His team, Sango Bay Kwekulanya farmers’ group from Rakai requested Shs74 million to rear pigs, goats and cows.
The national coordinator LVEMP II civil society watch project, Mr David Myayafu, said other East African countries are already implementing the programmes.

flanyero@ug.nationmedia.com