Lawyer attacks govt over Butamira

By Joyce NamutebiA Kampala lawyer, Kenneth Kakuru, yesterday told Parliament that the government has no powers to issue a permit to Kakira Sugar Works to plant sugarcane in Butamira Forest Reserve. “There is no way a permit to cut down a forest can be issued under the law. A reserve is simply to preserve and not to cut down,” Kakuru said.“There is nothing like a sugarcane reserve,” he added. He said the government did not have powers to alienate (leasing or permitting) any of these natural resources. Kakuru, lawyer for the Butamira pressure group, was appearing before the committee on natural resources chaired by Ken Lukyamuzi (Lubaga North). The committee is probing the controversial Butamira forest reserve. Kakuru said Butamira was for all Ugandans. He said if the government wanted land it should have bought it. He said Uganda was going against the Rio declarations on the environment.Kakuru said he would report the matter in the coming Rio meeting.Meanwhile, the new Butamira pressure group chairman, Lawrence Basoga, has accused the Jinja Resident District Commissioner, Deo Kayongo, of intimidating the permit holders. the group has filed another application for an injunction against Kakira.