Fishermen have petitioned the Lands ministry and Nakuru government to issue title deeds for four Lake Naivasha landing beaches.
They said Karagita, Kamere, Central and Tarumbeta beaches have been exposed to grabbing and access roads have been closed several times.
They called for gazettement of the beaches.
Lake Naivasha has about 300 licensed fishermen. Catch has improved due to Coast Guard patrols, expulsion of illegal fishermen, confiscation of illegal nets and removal of old equipment and nets that sank to the bottom.
Lake Naivasha Network group secretary Grace Nyambura said none of the four beaches had ownership documents.
She called Karagita as the most controversial, saying there is a dispute over the location of the beach, which is the busiest.
“We are calling on the county government to engage the Ministry of Lands so the four beaches can be gazetted and title deeds issued,” she said on Wednesday.
Nyambura said the issue of access roads to the lake remained one of the biggest challenges because investors, including flower farmers, block them.
“Currently, the access road to the Karagita landing beach is embroiled in dispute and its closure could lead to massive job losses for traders and fishermen,” she said.
Meanwhile, water hyacinth has been identified as major problem as the invasive week covered a third of the lake.
This has hurt fishing as fishermen lose thousands of shillings per week as they cannot access hyacinth-covered areas. It also hurts eco-tourism.
Chairman Lake Naivasha Boat Owners Association David Kilo said manoeuvring through the lake had become nearly impossible due to the weed.
“Currently some parts of the lake cannot be accessed due to this weed and we call on other stakeholders to join us in containing its spread,” he said.
He said previous efforts to use beetles to contain the spread of the weed had failed, adding that the mechanical way — uprooting and removing the weeds — was the only way.
Francis Muthui from Friends of Lake Naivasha said the methods used in Lake Victoria to remove the week should also be used in Lake Naivasha.
“The weed has covered nearly a third of the lake and we call on the government to make sure the machines in Lake Victoria are also brought to tLake Naivasha."
(Edited by V. Graham)
