By KT Reporter
Dozens of farmers in Kalangala district are risking their lives from electrocution after they resumed cultivation in the electricity distribution corridors.
The farmers have gradually been repossessing the demarcated corridors of the electricity distribution lines after the government delayed compensating them for the land taken for the reserves.
In 2012, the government, through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement with Kalangala Infrastructure Service Limited, established a solar-thermal power station at Bukuzindu village in Mugoye subcounty to distribute reliable electricity to communities in Bagala Island.
The project involved constructing power distribution lines to different locations, where residents were supposed to create a wayleave of 15 meters wide to allow free movement of supply equipment.
However, the contractor is concerned that some of the original owners of the corridors have repossessed their pieces of land because they were not duly compensated for their properties.
Lad Lukwago, the Power Generation Manager at Kalangala Infrastructure Services, observed that part of the distribution corridors have been planted with oil palm trees and banana plants, after the landowners waited for the promised government compensation in vain.
He indicates that apparently, some of the plants have grown to the height of the power distribution lines and disrupt the current flow as the leaves tap into the electricity wires, which results in load shedding.
“We find it hard to clear the corridors because the government did not fully compensate all the landlords within the corridors. We have continued to remind the responsible ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, but we are yet to get a positive response,” he says.
Resty Nakawungu, the Vice Chairperson for Kalangala district, says the repossession of power distribution corridors by farmers is already causing electrocution accidents in the area, as people prune oil palm trees below the lines.
Despite the threat, she argues that the district is failing to curtail the encroachment because it cannot compensate the claimants.
Nakawungu has appealed to the government to fulfil its obligation of compensating all the project-affected persons, to save them from the grave risks involved in coming near the power lines.
Victoria Nambalirwa, the Chairperson for Kalangala Town Council, says that the government compensated a few people who offered the wayleave corridor, leaving the others disgruntled and eventually choosing to repossess their land.
She is afraid the disgruntled may start vandalising the electricity supply equipment if the government fails to compensate them.
However, Fred Badda, the Kalangala Resident District Commissioner, has instructed the contractor to furnish him with the list of all uncompensated project-affected persons to follow up on their claims with the government.
He indicates that in the meantime, his office is going to lead a joint task force that will conduct community sensitisation meetings to address the raised public safety concerns-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
