20 families evicted from wetland
Jun 08, 2008
MASAKA municipality authorities have evicted over 20 families from Nakayiba wetland.
By Dismus Buregyeya
MASAKA municipality authorities have evicted over 20 families from Nakayiba wetland.
“In 2005, NEMA (National Environment Management Authority) evicted those people from that wetland but they returned.
“We had to intervene to save the swamp,†Rose Nakyejwe, the district environment officer, said last week.
Earlier, the district security committee led by the resident district commissioner, Bamusedde Bwambale, had ordered the families to vacate the wetland but they refused.
In the NEMA operation, over 100 residents occupying the wetland were evicted and illegal activities such as cultivation, house construction, dumping of murrum and soil were prohibited. A nearby washing bay run by a group of youth was also closed down.
Bwambale said the wetland was also being abused by people running tree nurseries, brick layers and herdsmen.
“The wetland is an important facility, which helps in controlling floods, sieving waste water from the municipality and provides raw materials for craft making,†he noted.
The RDC vowed to arrest and take to court anyone found conducting illegal activities in the wetland.
NEMA last month also evicted residents from wetlands in Kinawataka and Banda in Kampala.
Kinawataka wetland is fed by five rivers. Its catchment area includes Ntinda, Naguru hill, Kiwatule, Kyambogo, Kireka, Mbuya and Mutungo. The swamp, which flows into Lake Victoria at Butabika, is one of the three critical swamps in Kampala that filter waste water before releasing it into the lake.
MASAKA municipality authorities have evicted over 20 families from Nakayiba wetland.
“In 2005, NEMA (National Environment Management Authority) evicted those people from that wetland but they returned.
“We had to intervene to save the swamp,†Rose Nakyejwe, the district environment officer, said last week.
Earlier, the district security committee led by the resident district commissioner, Bamusedde Bwambale, had ordered the families to vacate the wetland but they refused.
In the NEMA operation, over 100 residents occupying the wetland were evicted and illegal activities such as cultivation, house construction, dumping of murrum and soil were prohibited. A nearby washing bay run by a group of youth was also closed down.
Bwambale said the wetland was also being abused by people running tree nurseries, brick layers and herdsmen.
“The wetland is an important facility, which helps in controlling floods, sieving waste water from the municipality and provides raw materials for craft making,†he noted.
The RDC vowed to arrest and take to court anyone found conducting illegal activities in the wetland.
NEMA last month also evicted residents from wetlands in Kinawataka and Banda in Kampala.
Kinawataka wetland is fed by five rivers. Its catchment area includes Ntinda, Naguru hill, Kiwatule, Kyambogo, Kireka, Mbuya and Mutungo. The swamp, which flows into Lake Victoria at Butabika, is one of the three critical swamps in Kampala that filter waste water before releasing it into the lake.