Our environment is seen as useless!
Aug 03, 2005
SIR — It is a great pity that the survival of Uganda’s environment is being determined by an economically-oriented leadership. In the end we will neither have the environment nor the profits we hope to get from the destruction of that same environment.
SIR — It is a great pity that the survival of Uganda’s environment is being determined by an economically-oriented leadership. In the end we will neither have the environment nor the profits we hope to get from the destruction of that same environment. Our environment is seen to be useless because it cannot be turned into instant money! What a pity! Any city worth its name must have green space. Why should we lose our green space which is for the majority of the people and for posterity only to benefit a few individuals? Before part of the the Centenary Park is taken and developed into a hotel let NEMA and the developers address the following issues before destroying it: There is plenty of space in Nakasero and Kololo why can’t they buy the properties and use the land there?
Have they made a study on the effect of the projected traffic systems, environment, air pollution and aesthetics?
The comparative advantage of setting up a hotel in Jinja or Entebbe in terms of scenery, market product, space, traffic jams and security is far greater than setting up one in the heart of kampala by destroying a green belt — one of the few remaining!
Legal mishaps should be avoided as in future such projects risk being demolished.
In whose interest is this development? Have other similar developments decreased the poverty levels or debt burden of this country? The people who make decisions to destroy our green areas should be named for future accountability. Take this analogy. A black girl decides to bleach her skin to get a fair complexion and ends up destroying it along with her dignity. She eventually ends up neither white nor black! We must take care of our environment. what the powers that be are doing is tantamount to defilement and one day they should answer for it. We appeal to all stakeholders to bring pressure to bear on those bent on destroying this invaluable green area to look for an alternative piece of land for their investors to build their hotel. NEMA has no credibility if it merely sits by and watches Kampala being turned into a concrete jungle. We might long be dead when our children and great grandchildren start suffering because of our folly.
Saidi M. Jamao
Uganda Waste and Environment
Management Association
Have they made a study on the effect of the projected traffic systems, environment, air pollution and aesthetics?
The comparative advantage of setting up a hotel in Jinja or Entebbe in terms of scenery, market product, space, traffic jams and security is far greater than setting up one in the heart of kampala by destroying a green belt — one of the few remaining!
Legal mishaps should be avoided as in future such projects risk being demolished.
In whose interest is this development? Have other similar developments decreased the poverty levels or debt burden of this country? The people who make decisions to destroy our green areas should be named for future accountability. Take this analogy. A black girl decides to bleach her skin to get a fair complexion and ends up destroying it along with her dignity. She eventually ends up neither white nor black! We must take care of our environment. what the powers that be are doing is tantamount to defilement and one day they should answer for it. We appeal to all stakeholders to bring pressure to bear on those bent on destroying this invaluable green area to look for an alternative piece of land for their investors to build their hotel. NEMA has no credibility if it merely sits by and watches Kampala being turned into a concrete jungle. We might long be dead when our children and great grandchildren start suffering because of our folly.
Saidi M. Jamao
Uganda Waste and Environment
Management Association