KAMPALA – Travellers to and fro Kalangala islands will have to find alternative means after MV Kalangala suspended its operations on Saturday, February 8, to allow it undergo annual mandatory servicing.
Mr Sadala Musoke, the chief executive officer Nation Oil Distributors Ltd, which services the vessel on behalf of the Works ministry, said this will last one month.
This implies the vessel will resume normal operations around March 9.
“It has been in our plan to take the vessel for mandatory service this year and starting February 9 it will suspend its operations for one month so that it is thoroughly serviced,” Mr Musoke said.
“We urge our clients to be patient because this exercise is for their own safety. The exercise will not take long, and surveyors from abroad are already in the country to do the work together with our team of engineers,” he added.
Mr Willy Lugoloobi, the Kalangala District chairperson, urged the government to ensure that repair and servicing of the vessel is done in the stipulated time frame. “It’s good that the vessel has finally gone for service, but let’s hope it will not take long,” he said.
“The same vessel was taken for service way back in 2015 and it took a period of one year and four months to return, which largely affected the district revenue, the number of tourists reduced by 50 percent as many businesses got paralysed. We don’t want that to happen again,” he added.