Floating weed stalls work of fishermen in Kalungu

Fishermen at Kamuwunga Landing Site in Kalungu District have continued to incur losses after plans to remove water hyacinth that blocked the area stalled.
The fish landing site, on the shores of Lake Victoria in Lukaya Town Council is the main fishing ground for tilapia and catfish in Kalungu District. But it has over the last 15 years been clogged with heavy aquatic weeds, spreading about 400 metres into the lake. This affects movement to and from the shore.

Last year, the Egyptian government through its Ministry of Water Resource and Irrigation offered to clear the landing site of the weeds. A visit to the landing site on Tuesday, however, revealed nothing more than an abandoned excavator and a vessel that were used during the launch of the project last year.
Mr Asuman Mulema, a fisherman at the landing site, says after the launch of the project, clearing of the floating water weed went on for close to three months and eventually stopped.
“There was no communication from the project implementers. We only saw machines stopping clearing the site, and later some vehicle carrier trucks came and loaded the machines,” Mr Mulema told Saturday Monitor.

He added that the project had created a lot of hope among area fishermen and many had started preparing to resume normal operations.
“Unlike other landing sites in the country, Kamuwunga is located on a highway, which would make transportation of fish to the market easier, but up to now we are still waiting to have the water  hyacinth removed,” he said.
When the water weed invaded the site, fishing activities almost stopped. This forced most residents that depended on fishing to among others resort to animal rearing and crop growing.

“There is no access to the lake. People abandoned fishing and many are surviving on growing sweet potatoes, which they sell to highway travellers,” Mr Fred Kayiwa, who was found tending to his watermelon garden, said.
Initially, Kamuwunga Landing Site had a population of about 2,000 people. Currently, only 700 people permanently reside at the site according to Mr Ronald Ssemanda, the chairperson of the area.  Only three of the 82 originally registered engine boats are still operational.
Mr Henry Nabongo, a senior fisheries officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, confirmed that the weed control project had stalled due to lack of funds.

“Our partners, the Egyptian government who are funding the weed control project on various water bodies, release the money in phrases and we are yet to receive some. We have written to them and if they release funds for phrase five, work will resume work soon,” Mr Nabongo said in an interview on Wednesday. 
While launching the project last year, Dr Mohamed Nazeeh Tawfeek, the Egyptian Ambassador to Uganda, said a $23.9m (about Shs90.2b) grant had been earmarked towards aquatic weed control and setting up fish farms. The money would also be channeled toward the development of fishing villages across the country.