OWC promises fish but delivers mangoes, oranges to farmers

NAMUTUMBA. Fishermen in Namutumba District have resorted to sugarcane growing after government allegedly sent them mangoes and oranges for planting instead of fingerlings to engage in fish farming.
Mr Emma Mugonero, the chairperson of fish farmers in Namutumba District, said government in 2012 encouraged them to dig fish ponds, promising to supply them with fingerlings and fish feeds.
Their anticipation was heightened when the Minister without Portfolio, Mr Abdu Nadduli, early this year visited them at Nambale Sub-county in Iganga District and trained them on how to rear fish.
They were, however, surprised when Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) coordinators in August delivered mangoes and oranges.
Mr Mugonero regretted that farmers spent a lot of money digging up ponds and filling them with water yet the fish wasn’t forthcoming. This, he said, prompted them to resort to sugarcane growing.
“After digging up the fish ponds and erecting fishing cages, we waited for the fingerlings for six years in vain. We have now decided to alter the enterprise from fish rearing to sugarcane growing because we cannot manage buying fingerlings,” he explained.
He asked: “OWC is not about simply giving out mangoes and oranges to every farmer but it is about having a choice. We want fish rearing that is why we constructed ponds. Why give us oranges and mangoes?”
Fish rearing, Mr Mugonero said, is a lucrative venture and once ponds are dug and fingerlings provided, after every five to six months a farmer stands to harvest about Shs2.5m
Efforts to get a comment from the Namutumba District OWC coordinator, Mr Christopher Muyodi, were futile by press time as his contacts were off.