Migingo: Surveyors to hold talks to resolve differences

By John Oywa

The fate of the stalled survey of Migingo Island could be known today when experts from Kenya and Uganda meet.

A senior Kenyan Ministry of Lands official said on Monday the two sides had agreed to meet again to patch-up their differences and review issues that saw them suspend the exercise.

"We are meeting them in Busia tomorrow (today) and we hope they will agree to return to work and complete the task," said the official who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The official said the Kenyan surveyors had not compiled any preliminary report on the ownership of the disputed island.

"We have not done any report because we are still compiling the data. We also cannot speculate because that would be unprofessional," he added.

Asked if the Ugandans have themselves written a report on the work so far done, he said: " I may not know but it would be in bad taste because such a report would be incomplete."

The Director of Surveys Ephantus Murage, who is leading the Kenyan team, was in a meeting over the same issue and could not grant The Standard an interview over the issue.