Government to amend NEMA law

By Gerald Tenywa
 
The Government is soon bringing amendments to Parliament to prune the powers of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), stopping it from single-handedly and arbitrarily granting permits, giving away important wetlands to investors.

Speaking to the New Vision over the weekend, environment state minister, Flavia Munaaba, said that the ministry is already working on the principles that will inform the amendments.

According to Munaaba, this comes after months of destruction of swamps, particularly Kinawataka in Kampala, which has attracted the attention of Parliament and the public. She said Parliament has already questioned the rampant give away of wetlands. “We are investigating the circumstances surrounding the giveaway of Kinawataka,” Munaaba said, adding: “Parliament has asked us to probe whether the investors were given the whole of Kinawataka swampland by NEMA.”

“We have decided as a ministry that we are going to do it (amend the law) and we are working on modalities that can set the discussions. We have discussed with the deputy Attorney General to prune powers of NEMA that are abetting the destruction of the environment,” Munaaba said.

She also said political leaders and technical officers in the Ministry of Water and Environment had made fruitless attempts to stop the destruction of the swamp.

“If you go to Kinawataka, those people (investors) wave at you their certificates and permits from NEMA allowing them to destroy the wetland. We are stuck because most people who are constructing in wetlands have been cleared by NEMA. They (NEMA) do not delegate to us because the law empowers them to take decisions as an independent body,” she said.