The non-payment of conservancy employees' salaries is one of the similar concerns discovered by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources in many areas.

The committee, which visited Salambala Conservancy on Monday, was informed that employees have not received their salaries since February this year due to the absence of a management committee, which is supposed to sign off on various administrative issues.

Libanda Mavuna, manager for Salambala Conservancy, says the issue was reported to the Masubia Traditional Authority and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

However, he says an amicable solution has not been reached.

"This situation is getting tense; even the deputy minister was here; we even told her about this issue; maybe she even went to Bukalo Khuta to get more information on why there is no management committee."

James Thalubenga is a field officer at the conservancy and had this to say: "This is a very bad situation that we are in now, because when we are in the bush, we are just starving the whole three months, which is not a good situation because even our families are also affected now, and we are also having some accounts with other furniture shops, so all those payments are not yet paid, so we are really affected. Even at work, we are not working in a good situation because we cannot do daily work while we are starving."

The Deputy Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Agnes Kafula, expressed hope that the matter would be resolved as it was being handled by the traditional authority.

"Currently, it's boiling down to the administration of the conservancies, and at the same time, the people on the ground are the ones suffering most because there is no more income coming in. And the staff members who are working have families to take care of and other responsibilities to take care of, but with this situation, unfortunately, they find themselves in a predicament situation where only the community members should come to a consensus and agree and say, let's put the differences aside and forge ahead for the progress of our conservancies."

The committee also visited Lusese Conservancy, where the management raised a number of issues of concern, one of which was the small amount paid out to residents who lost their livestock or loved ones to wildlife attacks, which is considered inadequate compared to the damages incurred.