As the grasshopper season sets in the power distributor, Umeme, has set up tough guidelines to be followed by all grasshopper dealers in Masaka sub-region.
The new rules have been announced by southern regional Umeme manager Petra Kyalisima during a joint meeting for all grasshopper dealers and trappers in Masaka Town on Wednesday.
The new guidelines require dealers to register with the village authorities and police in their areas of operation.
Under this new arrangement, grasshopper dealers will be subjected to strict scrutiny and will not be allowed to work before they are registered and inspected by Umeme.
Ms Kyalisima said the guidelines will ensure safety of grasshopper trappers and dealers since they use electricity which is dangerous to their lives.
“The reason we are emphasising these guidelines is that we want to have our customers operate in safe places and avoid cases of innocent people being electrocuted at such places,” she said.
She said her team will also conduct prompt inspections at several places where grasshoppers are being trapped to ensure that all dealers adhere to the guidelines and no one steals electricity as was the case in the past. Also, all places where grasshoppers are trapped must be fenced off to limit access by intruders.
Two decades ago, dealers in this business devised a method of collecting grasshoppers using large shiny iron sheets lined up vertically into a barrel at the bottom with bright bulbs suspended to attract grasshopers to the trap.
Ms Kyalisima said grasshopper trapping will also not be allowed in areas with transformers that are below 100kV because during the last grasshopper season, Umeme lost at least 4 transformers due to overloading by grasshopper trappers.
However, the guidelines were opposed by the grasshopper dealers, saying they are difficult to implement and many will be kicked out of business. According to Kuraish Katongole, the chairperson Old Masaka Basenene Association, fencing off sites where they operate from is expensive in addition to paying exorbitant electricity bills, inspection fees and association registration fees.
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