Fishermen on the Kansensero landing site in Kyotera district have called upon the government and the Office of the Prime Minister to clear the floating island that has spread all over the shores of the lake, hence making fishing difficult.
According to the fishermen, their fishing boats cannot be moved from the landing site or hired out due to the thickness of the floating island, hence affecting their fishing business activities.
While being interviewed by journalists on May 11, 2024, in Kyotera, Peter Sasira, the former speaker of Kyotera district, stated that the fishermen have spent two weeks without fishing and hiring out their boats because the floating island has invaded the lake, hence making fishing and transportation businesses come to a standstill.
Sasira also revealed that the fishermen have to pay a lot of money between UG.X 70,000 and UG.X 100,000 for other people’s boats from other landing sites that are not affected by the floating island.
“The fishermen have to pay these large sums of money to clear the way for them so that they can go to the other side of the lake to fish, yet they currently do not have money,” Sasira stated.
“The fishermen thought the floating island would disappear after a week, but unfortunately, it has not, and this has affected their livelihood, which is not good,” he added.
He urged the Office of the Prime Minister to intervene as soon as possible because fishing is the main activity and livelihood of the fishermen on the Kansensero landing site.
Kansensero landing site has a population of over 30,000 people, and most of them are fishermen while others deal in other fishing activities, but all these are now at a standstill, making their livelihood difficult.
