KALUNGU— Dr. Barirega Akankwasah, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Executive Director has announced that sand mining in Lwera wetland will be closed down at the end of 2023.
Speaking to reporters at the Lukaaya road toll market where he also launched a country-wide anti-litter campaign, Dr. Barirega said all licenses for sanding mining in Lwera will not be renewed beyond 2023.
“Following a directive by the President, in 2001, NEMA suspended any further permitting of all development activities including sand mining in wetlands. So from that time, we have not issued any other permit for sand mining. What that means is that those who had licenses as of a second September 2021 majority of them have expired and are required to decommission and leave,” Dr. Barirega said in an interview.
Lwera is a breeding ground for fish serves as a stop for migratory birds and can store vast amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide underground.
The wetland stretches more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) astride the highway from Kampala into the western interior. It has long been worked over by sand miners, legal and illegal, motivated by demand from the construction industry.
But while all wetlands around Lake Victoria are under threat from sand miners, the eponymously named sand from Lwera is favored among builders for its coarse texture that’s said to perform better in brickwork mortar.
Some builders are known to turn trucks back, rejecting the sand if they can’t prove by feeling it that it’s Lwera material.
At least two companies operate formally within Lwera: the Chinese-owned Double Q Co. Ltd. and Seroma Ltd. Both frequently face questions over their allegedly destructive activities there.
Dr. Barirega didn’t reveal the names of companies licensed to operate in Lwera, but noted that he will not renew their licenses when they expire by the end of this year.
“I am only aware of two companies whose permits are still valid,” Dr. Barirega told journalists on Tuesday. “Once those expire and they should be expiring within less than one year you shall not expect any mining activities in Lwera unless the government decides otherwise,” the NEMA boss noted.
The Masaka Resident City Commissioner, Hudu Hussein said he will soon swing the axe against powerful and wealth encroachers on Masaka City wetlands.
Hudu who has been the Masaka RCC for only five months said whereas in the past he was still trying to learn how the city is run, he is now ready to hit the ground running against the “untouchables.”
“They encroach on wetlands thinking they are powerful but they are wrong. I have been preparing myself since I came to Masaka. However, I have now got a list of these powerful encroachers. Whereas they think they are powerful, I don’t think their power is more than that of President Museveni,” Hudu said.
The Masaka City RCC said on Wednesday that the crackdown supported by NEMA will see the untouchables who encroached on wetlands face the wrath of the law.
“I want to tell you that we are chanced to have NEMA join us in correcting the mistakes made in the past. We are going to draw a program to enforce the presidential directives on evicting encroachers in wetlands. We have given them ample time to vacate the wetlands and put things right. That time has elapsed and now is time to act together with the city clerk and environment officers,” Hudu said.
“My honeymoon as the RCC is over and now it is time to act. We are now ready to start work. I won’t allow anyone those so-called powerful degraders of our environment. It will only happen when I leave Masaka City.”
