By KT Reporter
Leaders in Buliisa district have asked President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to immediately find a lasting solution and resettle the over 3,500 victims who were displaced by floods that resulted from the rising levels of Lake Albert water.
In 2020, more than 3,500 families were displaced after floods resulting from the rising water levels of Lake Albert submerged their homes and destroyed property worth millions of shillings at various landing sites.
The most affected people are from Wanseko, Katanga, Masaka landing sites in Kigwera Sub- County and Kawaibanda, Butiaba, Boma, Kigangaizi, Tugombili and Walukuba. Others are from Bugoigo, Kamagongoro, Kigungu, Serule, Piida, Waisoki, Triangle and Magali in Butiaba sub-county, Kabolwa and Kigoya landing sites in Buliisa sub-county.
Since then the flood victims have been suffering without being resettled or compensated. Speaking during a rally at Buliisa town council grounds, Allan Atugonza, the NRM Chairperson for Buliisa, who is also the MP for Buliisa County tasked the president to immediately intervene and have the people resettled.
He says they have severally raised the matter to have the victims resettled in vain, saying now it is the president who can have the victims resettled.
Atugonza further tasked the president to solve the problem of rampant invasion by wild animals that stray from Murchison falls national park into the communities. He says several people have been killed while crops have been destroyed but no intervention has been effected by the government.
He further appealed to the President to establish a vocational school in the area to enable youth and other residents in the district attain vocational skills to work in the crucial oil and gas sector.
He says Buliisa is one of the districts hosting oil activities, but there is no single technical school in the area.
He further asked the president to institute a special fishers fund to enable them acquire the recommended fishing gear to embrace modern fishing methods saying fishermen are too incapacitated to buy the recommended fishing gear.
President Museveni tasked the residents to embrace the four acre farming model. Museveni said if well embraced, the model farming method enhances economic opportunities and ensures sustainable livelihoods for communities across Uganda. The president explained that the model promotes land diversification.
Ideally, one acre is dedicated to coffee, another to fruit trees, the third to staple food crops for household use whil, Museveni says, embracing this system will allow farmers to also engage in poultry, piggery, and fish farming in ponds, effectively using the four acres to boost household incomes and lifting families out of poverty in a short period.
The president has also tasked Bullisa residents to embrace wealth creation programs and fight poverty in their households. He said they should take advantage of the peace to work hard and enhance their household incomes by participating in all the available government wealth creation programs.
The president further warned fishermen in Buliisa against bad fishing practices that has seen the fish stocks depleted. He emphasized that catching immature fish is criminal since it threatens future livelihoods and national revenue.
He advised fishermen to use appropriate fishing nets that allow young fish to grow and reproduce. Museveni also explained that fish breeding areas must remain untouched and that building or engaging in other disturbances near these critical zones is criminal.
Museveni has tasked the local fishermen and elders to take the lead in managing and protecting their lakes using traditional knowledge of sustainable practices
Museveni has also directed the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) officials operating on the lake Albert waters to return all the fishing gear they impounded from the fishermen immediately.
On oil and gas, Museveni says government would use the oil revenues to create durable wealth in the various sectors.
He says Uganda’s oil has a lifespan of about 20 to 25 years and therefore Ugandans should focus on developing their traditional economic activities and avoid over-reliance on the oil and gas sector.
Speaker of Parliament Annet Anita Among appealed to the government to avail funds to ensure the flood victims are resettled after endured a lot of suffering.
Robinah Nabbanja, the Prime Minister of Uganda, says her office is doing all it takes to ensure that the Buliisa flood victims are resettled.
Nabbanja says the NRM government has initiated several projects in the Bunyoro sub-region, citing the construction of the critical oil roads, Kabalega International Airport, and Hoima city stadium, oil discovery as well as electricity connectivity, and rallied the people of Bunyoro to support the NRM government since it is the only party with a visionary leader.
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