Return of dreaded weed spells doom for lake people

Transport, fishing and tourism in counties around Lake Victoria are incurring heavy losses thanks to the hyacinth weed menace.

Satellite images indicate that the weed is occupying the largest space since it first appeared in the world’s second largest water body in the early 1990s. Beaches in the counties of Kisumu, Homa Bay, Siaya, Migori and Busia are suffering. Governors are on the spot for not eradicating it.

The Nation has established the Sh82 million machine, bought with the help of the World Bank to fight the weed, has been idling in Kisumu for a year.

In the meantime, the weed continues to spread, helped by water pollution and fertile breeding conditions hurting the livelihoods of people in the region.

Fishing is one of the hardest hit with stocks dwindling and fishermen unable to navigate their boats. To make matters worse, the weed has been blamed for the death of 90,000 fish that were caged by fishermen.

Ports and ship landing sites have also been engulfed by the obnoxious weed, hindering movement of boats and fishing vessels.

The Kisumu port usually receives and processes over 4,000 tonnes of goods, including fertiliser, cooking oil, soap and sugar which are transported to other East Africa countries including Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

'ONE SHIP'

“We now receive a maximum of one ship weekly, down from four vessels the port could accommodate in a day. This means that business is at its lowest,” said Mr Mwalimu Disi, Kisumu port manager.

Fishermen, residents and business owners who spoke to the Nation blamed what they termed as reluctance by county government heads to fight the weed as the cause of its spread.

“The governors have been taking us for a ride for a long time now. They promised they would pool resources and buy a machine to remove the weed but nothing has been forthcoming,” said Maurice Ochieng, Luanda Beach chairman.

“We expected them to have already found a lasting solution for the problem. This is getting out of hand,” said Ms Rose Akinyi an eatery owner on the shores of the lake. Governors, led by Lake Region Economic block chairman Jack Ranguma are on record saying the counties had purchased a hyacinth harvester with the help of the World Bank to clear the waters.

The machine, however, has been lying at the Kisumu port for a year after it was purchased by the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Programme a national government agency.

Speaking to the Nation, Mr Ranguma blamed the failure to hand over the machine to counties as the reason for their inaction.

'MAINTAIN IT'

“The programme was to purchase the machine with the help of the World Bank, commission it and hand it over to us. We are yet to receive it,” Mr Ranguma said.

According to Mr Ranguma, part of the agreement was that once handed over to the counties, the devolved units would maintain the machine.

The programme’s communication officer, Mr Nicholas Manyolo, said the grounding of the machine was due to lack of an offloading bay and an on board toilet.

“We cannot commission the harvester unless the procurement process is complete,” said.

Mr Erick Khamala, an environmental expert specialising in navigation and earth science, argues that an increase in the mass of the hyacinth could not only disrupt access and businesses, but also the ecosystem of the lake.

This, he says, is due to heavy encroachment of what he termed as environmentally sensitive areas of the lake which include river mouths, rocky outcrops, sheltered bays, and wetlands.

The hyacinth weed can double its mass every five days, according to scientists. “These sensitive areas are increasingly under threat. Recent studies indicate the growing degradation and rising levels of threat, with wetlands, river mouths, sheltered bays and forests being more affected”.

ERADICATION APPROACH

Mr Khamala, a managing director of LocateIT, a remote tracking and GPS company in Nairobi, said the weed requires a multistate eradication approach owing to its rapid spread.

“Water hyacinth is seriously out-playing and out-pacing ongoing eradication efforts. Out-played and out-paced because for time immemorial now, a lot of resources and effort have been deployed to fight it yet the menace still persists,” he said.

The first attempt to clear the weed was in the late 1990s, when the government contracted an international company to mechanically harvest it.

This was followed by the use of machinery that shreds it from the water surface. The efforts worked for a while but failed to yield a permanent solution.

Some fishermen said they have been forced to abandon their boats because they cannot navigate the thick blanket of weed.

“We also fear getting trapped in the lake at night during their fishing expeditions. I will only go back to the lake after the weed has been driven away,” said Mr Peter Oloo, a fisherman in Kisumu.

Mr Edward Oremo, Homa Bay county beach management unit chairman said the return of the weed in the lake has seen fish prices soar as traders scramble for the meagre catch.