NEMA opposes Mabira giveaway
Mar 28, 2007
THE National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has opposed the degazetting of part of Mabira forest for sugarcane growing.
THE National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has opposed the degazetting of part of Mabira forest for sugarcane growing, reports Gerald Tenywa.
“Considering the importance of Mabira, our advice and guidance is that Mabira forest should be left alone,’’ said Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, the executive director, at a press conference yesterday.
Mugisha was reacting to accusations that Mabira had been given away without the intervention of the Government’s top watchdog on environment.
“No decision has been made as far as the give-away of Mabira is concerned, but the debate should go on. It helps to create awareness,†he said.
“Mabira is important for the watershed and the protection of streams and lakes.
We have seen the lowering of Lake Victoria and the decline in rainfall.â€
Weather reports over the years show that rainfall drops when encroachment sets in, he added.
Reacting to reports that Mabira had been degraded by encroachers, Mugisha stressed that Mabira was entirely free of encroachment. SCOUL workers, who used to grow crops at the edge of Mabira, near Bugule village, he said, had been evicted and the affected part of the forest was recovering.
Asked why he had not come out more strongly to condemn the proposed give-away of Mabira, he replied: “I do not think saying we are opposed to degazettement is the most appropriate way of resolving the Mabira issue.â€
He said he was part of the committee that accompanied the environment minister on an assessment mission. “We have been members of the committee and we have been meeting many Government officials. We still have Mabira because of such interventions.â€
He clarified that President Yoweri Museveni wrote a letter last year asking to be guided on the degazettement to pave way for a sugarcane plantation.
This prompted an inter-ministerial committee to study the proposal and later submit a report to Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi.
Consequently, Nsibambi in a letter of March 1, ordered environment minister Maria Mutagamba to prepare a Cabinet paper asking for permission to degazette part of Mabira. The letter, which The New Vision exposed, sparked off a massive campaign from civil society groups and environmentalists to save Mabira Forest and boycott Lugazi sugar.
“Considering the importance of Mabira, our advice and guidance is that Mabira forest should be left alone,’’ said Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, the executive director, at a press conference yesterday.
Mugisha was reacting to accusations that Mabira had been given away without the intervention of the Government’s top watchdog on environment.
“No decision has been made as far as the give-away of Mabira is concerned, but the debate should go on. It helps to create awareness,†he said.
“Mabira is important for the watershed and the protection of streams and lakes.
We have seen the lowering of Lake Victoria and the decline in rainfall.â€
Weather reports over the years show that rainfall drops when encroachment sets in, he added.
Reacting to reports that Mabira had been degraded by encroachers, Mugisha stressed that Mabira was entirely free of encroachment. SCOUL workers, who used to grow crops at the edge of Mabira, near Bugule village, he said, had been evicted and the affected part of the forest was recovering.
Asked why he had not come out more strongly to condemn the proposed give-away of Mabira, he replied: “I do not think saying we are opposed to degazettement is the most appropriate way of resolving the Mabira issue.â€
He said he was part of the committee that accompanied the environment minister on an assessment mission. “We have been members of the committee and we have been meeting many Government officials. We still have Mabira because of such interventions.â€
He clarified that President Yoweri Museveni wrote a letter last year asking to be guided on the degazettement to pave way for a sugarcane plantation.
This prompted an inter-ministerial committee to study the proposal and later submit a report to Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi.
Consequently, Nsibambi in a letter of March 1, ordered environment minister Maria Mutagamba to prepare a Cabinet paper asking for permission to degazette part of Mabira. The letter, which The New Vision exposed, sparked off a massive campaign from civil society groups and environmentalists to save Mabira Forest and boycott Lugazi sugar.