article: Others are sheltering from the hot midday sunshine, sitting under the thatched roof of a mud hut near the lake. This quiet fishing village has been here for longer than any of its inhabitants have been alive. Nobody seems to know when it was first established. Its future, though, is much more uncertain, because oil has been discovered under Lake Albert, the large body of water that straddles the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Exploration work has already taken place, and full scale drilling is due to start within months. "Things don't look so good for us, the fishing community," says Gideon Kaiza, one of the fishermen. "There's a man who came here and told us they'll be relocating us to another place because of the oil business." "They want only a few people to stay," he says. The men do not know exactly who told them to leave, but insist they and their families do not want to go. Initially they did not think they would have to, as one oil firm, Heritage Oil & Gas, built a brand new school at the far end of the village. "We knew that whoever had a house here would be given money if the government chose to relocate them, so that they start a new, better life with their families," says Mr Kaiza. "In Buliisa, when the exploration started, everyone got paid," he adds. "But here, there's been nothing, and yet we fear we're going to be evicted." As he speaks, cows and goats lie around under the shade of a huge tree in the centre of the village. Children, dressed mainly in old clothes full of holes, sit by the water's edge. An hour and a half's walk away, up a steep hill and then along an uneven dirt road, is the nearest small town, Weragaza. The sound from a film being shown in the local video hall can be heard on the main street. Some boys are playing pool on a table, under a rickety looking canopy made of palm leaves. In the town's bar, the elected chairman of the district, Omuhereza Rwemera Mazirane, says no-one will be forced from their homes. "The land belongs to the people," he says. "Anything which will be done, will be done amicably; we shall be sitting around the table." "They cannot be moved without compensation." Weragaza is surrounded by forest, which is home to monkeys and baboons. Some of the nearby land is used to grow crops. Mr Mazirane says the townspeople should be making more use of that to increase their incomes once the oil drilling starts. "We are always encouraging our people to plant more crops, to produce more animals for future consumption by the people who are going to work in the oil industry." He seems less convinced there will be lots of jobs available in the oil companies themselves, although he says a handful of people he knows already have jobs guarding oil sites. A three-hour drive away in Hoima, there is a much greater sense
summary: As the water of Lake Albert laps at the shore of Bugoma village, some fishermen are fixing their nets.