The deceased has only been identified as Owonda, a fisherman attached to Kijangi landing site in Tonya parish Buseruka sub county in Hoima district. Julius Hakiza, the Albertine region police spokesperson confirmed the incident saying they have launched investigations.
“A big boat together with the engine costs about Shillings 3.5 million and most of the fishermen who cannot afford such continue to use small boats well aware that, their lives are at risk more so during this rainy season,” he said.
Yusuf Mukisa, a fisherman says that before the dumping started, each of them would catch on average 15 mature fish but the fish catch has since dropped, which has deprived them of their livelihood.
The fishermen told URN on Thursday that some fishermen had resorted to fish poisoning so as to harvest more yet in the long run threatening the sustainability of the fisheries sector to compete on the global market.
Gen. Kyanda explained that AFALU is not accountable to anyone and their excesses are blamed on the Fisheries Protection Unit personnel who in most cases not aware of their unscrupulous operations.
Patrick Ochieng, a resident of Singila village accused some FPU officers of conniving with their civilian counterparts to confiscate their fishing nets and charge them between 200,000 and 300,000 to recover them.
The deceased has been only identified as Kumakech, a fisherman attached to Mbegu landing site in Kabaale Sub county Hoima district. His other colleague who survived the boat accident is only identified as Opio.
Project X youth innovators is a team of six university graduates who devised means of earning income by introducing unique water transport devices within the country. This time around, they designed a bicycle with two light pipes at the sides which enable it to keep afloat along the lake.
They argue that the uncontrolled levels of pollution have deterred several fish species from multiplying because their breeding areas are contaminated with unspecified amounts of acidic waste from factories. The fishermen pinned Nile Agro and Skyfirt Leather Industries for establishing an extension of 50 meters into Lake Victoria.
State Minister for Fisheries Hellen Adoa Says that many of the encroachers have failed to heed to calls to vacate the shoreline, threatening the natural resources and their habitats. According to Adoa, all the lakes are now covered with floating islands that descended from the weakening shorelines as a result of human activity.
