Government needs Shs4b to fight water weed
Agriculture minister Vicent Ssempijja addressing journalists at Ministry Head offices in Entebbe on April 23, 2019. Photo by Eve Muganga
Agriculture ministry needs about Shs4 billion to fight water weed in Uganda’s water bodies.
The director Fisheries in ministry of Agriculture, Dr Edward Rukunya says they asked government for Shs 4 billion in their supplementary budget that is going to be used to fight water weed which invaded Lake Kyoga.
’’In our supplementary budget we asked for Shs 4 billion which we are waiting to receive as a ministry because this weed has hindered fishing activities on the lake yet fishing contributes a lot to our economy,’’ said Dr Rukunya.
According to him, the water weed affects the breeding areas of fish and therefore have to work hard, involve more researchers to see which new technology can be used to get rid of it for good.
“We have to do a lot of research and see which technology to be used when fighting this weed,” he added. However, the Agricultural Minister Vincent Ssempijja said research was done and the weed identified but “we have been guided on what technology to use to fight this caliber weed because we had the first one and now there’s this second one called caliber weed which is very dangerous.”
“As soon as government releases this money, the weed will be istory,’ he added.
However, the executive secretary ASARECA Prof. Jean Jacques Mbonigaba noted that the weed is caused by poor farming methods.
