Uproar erupts over Lumpewo wetland use

By John Kasozi and Jennifer Austin

CONTROVERSY is brewing between Sunfish Farm Limited and Kajansi Roses Limited over the discharge of waste water from the flower farm into Lumpewo permanent wetland threatening the long-term viability of the fish farm.

Lumpewo wetland is found between Ssisa and Makindye subcounties. It’s located about 2km off Entebbe Road west of Kajansi extending to the Lake Victoria shores.

This wetland is useful for sand and clay extraction as well as forest and fish farming.

Digo Tugumisirize, the managing director, Sunfish Farms Limited, accuses Kajansi Roses that belongs to Madhvani Group of Companies of polluting the wetland. Sunfish Farms is the only fish farm that breeds Cat fish in Uganda. Tugumisirize says his farm might perish within two or three years. “Whenever it rains, the waste water that comes down emits noxious odour from the chemicals.”

The manager of Kajansi Roses, Bhahat, insists that it is merely storm-water that is channelled down from roofs of the greenhouses.

“This water does not contain any chemicals. Plans are underway to recycle the storm water for use on the farm.”

“What Kajansi Roses is doing is illegal. Before undertaking any development, they should have submitted a project brief,” says Paul Mafabi, a commissioner in the Wetlands Inspection Division (WID) in the Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment. “And these days, developers forge Environment Impact Assessments (EIA).”

National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) spokesperson Winfred Baanabakintu says, “We need time to verify.” According to the 1995 National Environment Statute (NES), all projects likely to have an impact on the environment are required to under go an EIA process before they are implemented.

Discharging storm water from the flower farm into the wetland completely disregards regulations put in place by NEMA and WID.
When The New Vision and WID visited the area, two men were digging underground channels across the road on both corners of the farm to direct waste water to the Kajansi ditch wetland.

“I am so perturbed that these people are channelling waste water down to the wetland that supplies water to my fish farm,” says Tugumisirize.

In 2003, he reported to Lubega Matovu of NEMA and Peter Kitimbo of Government Analytical Laboratory. “They came and inspected the area. But there has been no feedback,” says Tugumisirize.

“This waste water contains chemicals. I have been forced to dig a channel stretching about 1,000 metres to deter it from reaching my farm on which I will spend about sh5m,” he alleges.

Rugumayo, another fish farmer, concurs with Tugumisirize “We have also experienced chemical odours from the waste water that descends to our ponds.”
However, Bhahat was unwilling to state which chemicals were used on the plants.

“I tried to talk to the managers of Kajansi Roses Limited about their waste water discharge, but all was in vain” Tugumisirize says.

Bhahat admitted that the farm has not filed an EIA with NEMA. “It is been certified by MPS. The MPS stands for a monitoring system used by the flower sales sector. It governs environmental, social and human resource management among flower exporters.” He says he thinks this also certifies any NEMA requirements.

Bhahat claims that Kajansi Roses was established before the NES.
However, the flower farm was opened in 1997 two years after the establishment of NEMA and NES in 1995. Also of potential concern is that Kajansi Roses installed a water pump in the middle of the road.

Tugumisirize says the owners of the land, the National Forestry Authority (NFA) demarcated the road.

Bhahat says they have the necessary permit for water extraction in the wetland. But for an environment easement permit remains a mystery. An environment easement is a right of a person over another person’s land. It’s granted by court.

“Tugumisirizes’ use of the wetland is also subjected to lead agencies NEMA, WID, Directorate of Water Development and Uganda Wildlife Authority regulation,” says Joseph Ogwal, a wetlands monitoring officer, WID. “Though he has permission to use the land from NFA, it will be necessary for him to receive further environmental clearance.”

Tugumisirize says he is carrying out an EIA with the help of DANIDA. “I am splitting the big ponds into small units or hatcheries to start intensive fish farming.”

Under the Constitution, the Land Act 1998 and NES 1995, wetlands are protected as land reserved for ecological purposes and are not to be owned by any person.

In Kenya and Tanzania the environmental situation is similar. The problem is also exacerbated by the larger range of industries, such as textiles, leather tanning, paper mills, fish processing, sugar, abattoirs and breweries discharging effluent into Lake Victoria.

Tanzania is also said to release two million litres of untreated sewage and industrial waste into the lake each year.

Run-off of excess nutrients has caused a five-fold rise in algae growth since the 1960s, causing de-oxygenation of the water and threatening the survival of some species in the lake.