NEMA rewards technology innovations to country pollution

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KAMPALA - The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has recognised companies which excelled in establishing pollution control technologies.

The move is to encourage other factories and manufacturing plants in the country to adhere to environmental and climate management standards.

We were recognizing those who established effluent treatment plants to ensure that they do not discharge waste that is disastrous to lakes, rivers and wells in the country.

Others who were recognised are those who excelled in waste management and have been engaging in tree planting and plastic waste collection.  

Dr. Barirega Akankwasah, the NEMA Executive Director while addressing the congregation at the presentation of National Sustainability Awards 2024 at Sheraton Hotel on Friday (June 28, 2024) said that such companies have done a lot towards using technologies that use mechanisms to capture carbon emissions.

“Uganda Breweries Limited has for instance established a sh64b effluent treatment plant with the technology to capture carbon emissions and waste that is disastrous to Lake Victoria and other water resources,” he revealed.

At the inaugural awards, others rewarded are Stanbic Bank for tree planting, Gulu City for managing waste properly and oil and natural companies like CNOOC and Total Energies Limited which won under the category of petroleum sector upstream.

“East African Oil Pipeline (EACOP) which many environment activists nationally and internationally have been condemning over scars of causing environmental and climate change have employed high-level control technologies to exploit oil resources in Uganda and we recognised them for the public to know,” he remarked. 

“Factories were our big concern because that is where the source of problem for environmental degradation has been coming from,” he added.

NEMA awards that were given out to companies for National Environment Sustainability. (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)

Factories in Uganda have taken the biggest share of wetland allocation in the country at the expense of idle highlands which has threatened government capacity to guard against environmental degradation and climate change in the country.

Third Deputy Prime Minister, Lukia Nakadama Isanga who represented the Prime Minister of Uganda, Robinah Nabbanja asked NEMA to extend such interventions in other sectors of the economy such as education, construction industry, infrastructure development, and agriculture.

“NEMA needs to involve other sectors and environmental activists in environmental sustainability for all of us to guard national resources for future generations,” she said.  

We need to preserve the beauty of the Pearl of Africa and for everyone to observe the contribution of saving the environment Nakadama emphasised.

President Yoweri Museveni, in his 23 directives to save the environment, asked people to stop encroaching on wetlands.

Uganda now has 45.9 million people implying that the environment will play a key role in providing food to the population and adaptation to climate change is key to our national agenda, she highlighted.

“I publicly recognise those efforts towards good environment management but we ask for broader and sustainability efforts to guard against climate change with the population growing steadily in mind.”

Those who were recognised included Hoopoe Trading Limited, a leather factory, Kakira Sugar Factory, Luwero Industries Limited, CNOOC Uganda Ltd, Total Energies EP Uganda, Kansai Plascon Ltd, Roofings Limited Namanve, Wildlife Conservation Ltd, Vision Group Limited, Gulu City, Stanbic Bank among others.