Loggers Cause Floods
May 26, 2003
The May 16th landslides that caused the exhumation of 30 bodies and displaced 500 people in Mbarara, were due to the poor management of the water catchment areas.
By Ebenezer Bifubyeka
The May 16th landslides that caused the exhumation of 30 bodies and displaced 500 people in Mbarara, were due to the poor management of the water catchment areas.
Jacquonius Musingwire, Mbarara’s environment officer, who also represents the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), in Mbarara, says, the floods from the surrounding bare hills accompanied by landslides displaced over 500 members of 70 families, in Bugamba sub-county in Mbarara District.
The three day rainstorm that ended on May 16, destroyed over 250 houses and many roads. The areas that were hit most by the floods were the parishes of Rushanje, Singwa, Kikukure, Ruzinga and Kanena.
The office of the resident district commissioner has resettled the displaced people at Kangirirwe Primary School in Mbarara town.
Musingwire says however, that the question as to who the displaced residents should blame for “causing,†such abrupt and destructive floods and landslides, still remains. Is it the residents, ‘legal’ loggers or is it both?
“About 1,080 hectares out of the total of about 1,210 hectares of Bugamba Forest Reserve in Rwampala County has been cleared. Only about 80 hectares of the forest is remaining†says Musingwire.
According to The state of environment report of Mbarara 2001, ‘legal loggers have only re-planted about 60 hectares of the area that they have cleared. To make matters worse, most of the seedlings that were planted were burnt by people clearing the bush for cultivation early this year!
Musingwire says there has been laxity in enforcing the conditions specified in the licenses given to loggers. The loggers for instance, are supposed to plant trees to replace those that they chopped down, but this has never been enforced.
The heavy down pour caused the rainwater to run over the bare hills unchecked, resulting into the destructive floods.
Musingwire says the condition of planting trees should be enforced immediately, especially in the areas where there are loggers.
“Fighting illegal loggers in the forest however, reserves alone is not enough. The government should come up with a policy to plant tree on all bare hills and slopes in and around the forest reserves,†says Frank Tumusiime, Mabara’s forestry officer.
The May 16th landslides that caused the exhumation of 30 bodies and displaced 500 people in Mbarara, were due to the poor management of the water catchment areas.
Jacquonius Musingwire, Mbarara’s environment officer, who also represents the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), in Mbarara, says, the floods from the surrounding bare hills accompanied by landslides displaced over 500 members of 70 families, in Bugamba sub-county in Mbarara District.
The three day rainstorm that ended on May 16, destroyed over 250 houses and many roads. The areas that were hit most by the floods were the parishes of Rushanje, Singwa, Kikukure, Ruzinga and Kanena.
The office of the resident district commissioner has resettled the displaced people at Kangirirwe Primary School in Mbarara town.
Musingwire says however, that the question as to who the displaced residents should blame for “causing,†such abrupt and destructive floods and landslides, still remains. Is it the residents, ‘legal’ loggers or is it both?
“About 1,080 hectares out of the total of about 1,210 hectares of Bugamba Forest Reserve in Rwampala County has been cleared. Only about 80 hectares of the forest is remaining†says Musingwire.
According to The state of environment report of Mbarara 2001, ‘legal loggers have only re-planted about 60 hectares of the area that they have cleared. To make matters worse, most of the seedlings that were planted were burnt by people clearing the bush for cultivation early this year!
Musingwire says there has been laxity in enforcing the conditions specified in the licenses given to loggers. The loggers for instance, are supposed to plant trees to replace those that they chopped down, but this has never been enforced.
The heavy down pour caused the rainwater to run over the bare hills unchecked, resulting into the destructive floods.
Musingwire says the condition of planting trees should be enforced immediately, especially in the areas where there are loggers.
“Fighting illegal loggers in the forest however, reserves alone is not enough. The government should come up with a policy to plant tree on all bare hills and slopes in and around the forest reserves,†says Frank Tumusiime, Mabara’s forestry officer.