Rakai told to protect Lake Victoria

RAKAI district has been advised to protect Lake Victoria from pollution as this would check the rapid growth of the water Hyacinth, reports Gerald Tenywa Chris Kasamba, an official of Lake Victoria Environment Management Programme (LVEMP), said the massive soil erosion and the subsequent siltation of the lake provided nutrients for the weed. He was speaking at a ceremony organised to hand over sh11m to communities to promote afforestation of bare hills in Rakai. “We should work together to protect the lake by adopting soil conservation practices,’’ Kasamba said. He said most of the soil eroded from the hill is taken by the streams and rivers into Lake Victoria. He said the livelihoods of the communities would be affected because the fish catches were declining and the productivity of the soil was drastically dwindling due to reduced fertility of the soil. Kasamba said LVEMP was helping the people in Kifamba sub-county use the environment wisely.