Uganda authorities prepare to repel locust invasion - mass media

Uganda 's Ministry of Agriculture is stocking pesticides to control locust, as insect halves approach the country from the eastern border. This is reported by Daily Monitor Uganda with reference to the statement of a high-ranking official. We are contacting importers from Kenya because it is forbidden to store chemicals here (in Uganda), Stephen Biantwail, the plant protection commissioner, told the newspaper in a telephone interview. We don 't have planes to spray against locusts in Uganda, he added. Biantvail also reported that the ministry was working with the Desert Locust Control Organisation in East Africa (DLCO-EA), the body that provides pest control aircraft in the East African region, based in Kenya 's capital, Nairobi. However, Evarist Magara, Uganda 's representative to DLCO-EA, said the Government of Uganda 's unpaid financial obligations would make it harder for the locust control body to help. Our task is to put into operation chemical spray planes, [what will be possible] if the government pays its debts (in the amount of 18 billion Ugandan shillings (4.9 million US dollars). But so far nothing has been paid, Magara said. According to an official statement from DLCO-EA, there is no sign yet of easing the locust invasion in Kenya, and the risk of half-dressings reaching Uganda is high. The chances of further proliferation within Kenya and into neighbouring countries such as Uganda and South Sudan are still high, the organization said in a news release. According to Biantvail, the locust is currently about 160 km from the border with Uganda.