Chinese Firm Stopped From Dumping Soil In Swamp

KAMPALA City Council (KCC) has stopped the Chinese construction company rehabilitating the Nakivubo Channel from dumping soil in the Bugolobi swamp, reports Hamis Kaheru. "You don't dump soil in a wetlands before you are sure that it will not destroy the wetlands," KCC public relations officer, Simon Muhumuza, said yesterday. Muhumuza said China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) had accepted the directive and was instead dumping the soil at Wankoko, near the Kampala sewerage treatment plant. He said the Wankoko area where the soil is currently being dumped belongs to KCC. CCECC last year won the $24.92m (sh44b) contract to reconstruct the channel. The two-year project covers 9kms from Wandegeya to Luzira on the Lake Victoria shores. It involves de-silting and widening of the channel. Heaps of soil had accumulated at Bugolobi and Namuwongo, raising concern among residents and environmentalists that the swamp would be destroyed. The project is financed jointly by the International Development Agency (IDA), the World Bank affiliate, and KCC. IDA provided a soft loan of $22.38m (Sh39b) to the Government for the project. The funds from IDA comprise 90% of the total cost while 10% ($2.54m) is counterpart funding from KCC. "The land is not enough and we are looking for other areas," he said. Muhumuza said they were looking at the possibility of using the soil to fill dug up places. Ends