Budongo timber impounded in city
Jan 14, 2007
A LARGE consignment of timber illegally cut from Budongo forest reserve in Masindi has been impounded from a Kampala businesswoman.
By Gerald Tenywa
A LARGE consignment of timber illegally cut from Budongo forest reserve in Masindi has been impounded from a Kampala businesswoman.
The businesswoman over the weekend tussled with law enforcement officials of the National Authority (NFA).
She claimed that the timber belongs to the wife of a top politician in the government. She had concealed the mahogany timber by declaring it as a common species described as Nkuzanyana.
But the NFA officials resisted the woman’s intimidation until she broke into tears. She later confessed that she had bought the timber from dealers in Masindi.
“We have established the truth and the sad part of it is that the timber was cut from the strict nature reserve where felling of trees is prohibited,’’ said NFA’s law enforcement officer Samwiri Rwabwogo.
He said 300 pieces of mahogany valued at about sh8m were recovered.
Rwabogo explained that mahogany had been cut down outside the forest reserve and is only found in the strict nature reserve in Budongo.
He revealed that his team was hunting for the dealers who sold the timber, which is now stored at the NFA headquarters in Kampala pending a public auction.
NFA publicist Gaster Kiyingi said there was a long standing-ban on cutting mahogany. Budongo is the largest forest reserve in East Africa and is a habitat to endangered animals like chimpanzees.
There have been several incidences of illegal logging in the forest.
A LARGE consignment of timber illegally cut from Budongo forest reserve in Masindi has been impounded from a Kampala businesswoman.
The businesswoman over the weekend tussled with law enforcement officials of the National Authority (NFA).
She claimed that the timber belongs to the wife of a top politician in the government. She had concealed the mahogany timber by declaring it as a common species described as Nkuzanyana.
But the NFA officials resisted the woman’s intimidation until she broke into tears. She later confessed that she had bought the timber from dealers in Masindi.
“We have established the truth and the sad part of it is that the timber was cut from the strict nature reserve where felling of trees is prohibited,’’ said NFA’s law enforcement officer Samwiri Rwabwogo.
He said 300 pieces of mahogany valued at about sh8m were recovered.
Rwabogo explained that mahogany had been cut down outside the forest reserve and is only found in the strict nature reserve in Budongo.
He revealed that his team was hunting for the dealers who sold the timber, which is now stored at the NFA headquarters in Kampala pending a public auction.
NFA publicist Gaster Kiyingi said there was a long standing-ban on cutting mahogany. Budongo is the largest forest reserve in East Africa and is a habitat to endangered animals like chimpanzees.
There have been several incidences of illegal logging in the forest.