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Article

4 Jul 2013

Author:
Gerald Tenywa & Samuel Balagadde, New Vision (Uganda)

Sand mining ruining Lake Victoria fish breeding areas [Uganda]

Anthony Kalanzi, a resident of Portbell in Kampala lives in a land of surprises where nature keeps on giving him a source of livelihood. When the hefty catches of fish reduced, he abandoned fishing...Kalanzi has decided to dig the bed of Lake Victoria to extract sand, which he says is a lucrative business because the raw material is on demand because of the booming construction industry...While sand mining has healed the troubles of many unemployed youth and also supplies raw materials to construction, Uganda’s fastest growing industry, it has also contributed to the destruction of the environment. It has disfigured the landscape of the lake bed and is also leading to the destruction of breeding grounds for fish...[A]ccording to Dirisa Walusimbi, an elder at Ggaba landing site who has a two-year long experience in fishing...“Sand mining is helping the construction industry to grow, but it is contributing to the death of the fish industry,” [refers to Akright Housing Projects]