During a stakeholder meeting at the Busoga Kingdom headquarters in Jinja on Monday, November 18, 2024, MEMD officials revealed that the project is in its final stages, with a consultant already procured and relocation plans underway.
Five years after the deadline, Anne Nakafeero, the Principal Environmental Officer in charge of Biodiversity says that generally Uganda still releases up to 32,146 Kgs of mercury into the environment annually. Out of this, she says 205kgs is from the disposal of manometers and gauges, 70kgs from incineration of medical waste, 146kg from dental mercury -amalgam fillings and 21kgs from thermometers with mercury.
"In science, there is no waste. Matter is not created; it is only transformed from one state to another. Plastic can be recycled back into plastic, and wood can be recycled as well. As a country, we only need to support our cities and municipalities with equipment to facilitate proper waste sorting."
John Ninzeyimana Kamara, Bufumbira North County MP in Kisoro district, explained that he is ready to vacate the wetland since he has already started fish farming, where he expects a ready market in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
In recent weeks, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has carried out forced evictions in the Lubigi wetland area, demolishing countless homes and businesses. This operation aims to restore wetlands, critical for environmental conservation and reducing flood risks in Kampala and nearby districts.
Official records from the environmental body indicate that 214 households had already been evicted, with plans to evict 101 more, totaling 315 affected households.
The Energy Ministry has partnered with several organizations, including Planet Gold, Impact, and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), to gazette mining areas and license the miners. Artisanal miners are encouraged to form groups and apply for Artisan and Small-scale mining licenses at a fee of 1 million shillings.
Tom Okurut’s work at NEMA ‘was crucial in regulation and enforcement against threats to the environment and conservation.
He has been credited for strong environmental regulation of the oil and gas sector in Uganda.
Bukenya who invited officials from the National Forestry Authority, National Environment Management Authority, Entebbe Municipal Council, Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment, and a civil society group acting on the environment was shocked to hear that portions of the forest have been parceled out and handed to individuals and companies for private development.
Unless the people vacate the wetlands to allow them to hold the running waters and practice the sustainable land management system that includes afforestation, terracing the hills, and land mulching, such disasters won't end -Environmentalists.
NEMA in its notice directed that all timber-processing companies present proof of sustainable sources of wood when applying for approval for timber processing.
Available statistics show that wetland coverage in Uganda has dropped from 37,346.3 Sq. Km in 1994 (15.5 percent) to 21,526.3 Sq.Km which is an 8.9 percent decrease. There is also a projection indicating that if the destruction trends are not checked, Uganda will be left with only 1.6 percent of wetlands cover by 2040.
George Musinguzi, the UPDF Spokesperson in Busoga sub region, says they have teamed up with experts from the National Environment Management Authority and National Fisheries Resources Research institute-NAFIRRI to ensure that their operations are nondestructive to aquatic life.
Ali Wamala Ngudde, a resident, claims that some people own titles in the areas which the ministry is claiming to be wetlands. He says that the ministry needs to be careful while trading on their land.
The National Agricultural Management Authority-NEMA has snubbed a petition by civil societies under Civil Society Coalition on Oil and Gas-CSCO which requested the environment body not to approve the east African oil pipeline environment and social impact assessment report.
