Fishermen livelihood threatened as water weed blocks landing site

KALUNGU.

The livelihood of more than 1,000 fishermen at Kamuwunga Landing Site in Kalungu District is being threatened by the invasion of the water hyacinth which has since blocked the shoreline at the landing site, bringing fishing to a halt.

The landing site has for years been a major source of revenue for Kalungu District which is struggling to boost its local revenue base.

However, a carpet of this heavy floating plant has drifted inland, blocking movement of fishermen and their boats to and from the shore of the landing site for a distance of 200 metres. Several canoes and boats at the landing site are currently marooned by the devastating weed and fishermen are seen struggling to get their boats out of water.

Mr Ronald Bbaale, a fisherman at the landing site, says his nets and canoe can hardly move on water due to the water hyacinth.

“This weed invaded this place around September last year, we tried to up root it, in vain. Now, we can only access the lake with a small canal, we have to wade through the thick vegetation and someone may mistake it to be a bush of some sort yet it used to be a clear place where all small and big boats could land,” Mr Bbaale says.

He says after the invasion, they informed Lukaya Town Council authorities, but they have not responded to their plight.
Mr Kenneth Kigongo, an employee of Lukaya Citizen Group, which was awarded a tender to collect tax from the landing site, says they stopped collecting dues since fishermen are no longer working.

“All people with businesses here are making losses because they entirely depend on fishermen who no longer work,” Mr Kigongo says.

Kamuwunga Landing Site is located about two kilometres off Lwera swamp on the Kampala-Masaka highway.

According to Mr Fred Mugerwa Tamale, the head of finance at Lukaya Town Council, the council is likely to lose revenue of about Shs108 million in the next financial year if the situation is not swiftly handled.

“We collect approximately Shs9 million per month from Kamuwunga Landing Site that comes from fish and other businesses in the area,” Mr Mugerwa says.

Ms Beatrice Mbabazi, a mother of three, says she opened a restaurant in the area to tap into the growing population there but she hardly makes any sales.

“Since the landing site got blocked, every business here got paralysed, other people dealing in fish have gone away and I don’t know what I will do next to earn a living and even take care of my children,” Ms Mbabazi says.

Residents at the landing site blame the district and Lukaya Town Council authorities whom they accuse of sitting back as the water weed eats up the site.
“They collect revenue from us, but have failed to help us. Kamuwunga is the main landing site in Kalungu District,” Mr Ali Matovu says.

However, Mr Gerald Ssenyondo, the chairperson of Lukaya Town Council, says they have tried to control the weed, but it is hard to eliminate.

“The first time it invaded the site, we took inmates there and tried to remove it, but we learnt later that it needed more machinery like excavators which we can’t afford now,” Mr Ssenyondo said, adding that they later petitioned the line ministry to intervene.

Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Mr Vincent Ssempijja, who is also the area MP says a team from the department of fisheries will soon visit the area to resolve over the situation.

“We are organising, the department of fisheries is still mobilising to go there, though we are facing some logistic challenges,” Mr Ssempijja said.

Mr David Kareeba, the officer in charge of forestry and biodiversity at National Association of Profession Environmentalists says water hyacinth is a highly problematic invasive species that requires a lot of effort and resources to fight.

“The government has in the past decade tried to combat the weed on different lakes and rivers under the Uganda-Egypt Aquatic Weed Control Project and other programmes, but the weed remains resistant and continues to threaten the fishing industry.”