Industrial wastes threaten Kinawataka swamp
Oct 07, 2007
A BAREFOOT woman with a basin between her hands hides behind a thicket at the edge of Kinawataka swamp. <br>
By Gerald Tenywa
A BAREFOOT woman with a basin between her hands hides behind a thicket at the edge of Kinawataka swamp.
She is one of the thousands of people that frequently bathe in the stream oblivious of the danger that is associated with polluted water in the swamp.
“Not many people are worried about the water,’’ says Irene Nakato, a resident of Kinawataka.
The water smells like rotten eggs and its colour is grey, but this has not stopped people from using it.
Each day, massive sewage, waste oil and unknown quantities of industrial waste are released into the swamp. In most of the parts tested by the National Environmental Management Authority’s (NEMA) inspection team, the water has almost been replaced with waste.
The pollution has led to the rapid growth of trees in the wetland and if unchecked, the swamp will turn into a forest, which provides different ecological roles.
“This is strange.
The swamp is becoming dry in some parts and because of the nutrients in the waste, trees that do not normally occur in wetlands have started appearing,’’ says Jennifer Kutesakwe, NEMA’s senior inspector.
This implies that more waste will seep through the swamp and contaminate Lake Victoria because the forest does not clean the waste water as wetlands do.
But the residents around the swamp do not give a hoot to the changing vegetation in parts of Kinawataka swamp as they move deeper into the wetland. Instead of shunning the swamp, the youth have turned it into a washing bay.
“This water sometimes itches, but we have no alternative to turn to,’’ says Moses Ssekitto, a resident. “The water has not killed anyone and I do not see why this place should be abandoned, ’’ he added.
Down stream, a short distance away from the washing bay, women and children collect water from the springs for domestic use.
In addition to this, investors are reclaiming the patches of swamp left at Kyambogo and they continue releasing untreated effluent into the swamp.
This runs through the swamp because a channel, that was illegally created to reduce flooding about five years ago, has instead become a route for the waste water down steam.
The three square kilometre swamp is a proposed wetland reserve, which NEMA says forms part of the Murchison Bay complex together with Nakivubo swamp.
Murchison bay is the mouth of Lake Victoria and is located a stone throw from Gaba Water Works, where water for the two million people residing in Kampala is pumped.
NEMA warns industries “We could not believe that the industries can release waste water into the swamp with impunity,’’ says Kutesakwe.
“On a surprise inspection, the NEMA team encountered white form spewing into a stream that drains into Kinawataka.â€
The team traced it backwards and discovered that Global Paper Limited, a factory manufacturing toilet paper, was the origin of the effluent.
“The company discharges untreated effluent into Kinawataka stream,’’ says Festus Bagoora NEMA’s director of Environmental Monitoring and compliance. “We shall not hesitate to close it because they do not want to cooperate with NEMA.’’
In an interview with The New Vision, Loux Ioc Ming, the manager of Global Paper, dismissed the NEMA report.
“It is not true that our industry is polluting the environment,†Ming said.
Bagoora shot back saying: “Some of these industries should be closed because they do not know what they are doing. It is not NEMA’s intention to shut them, but this is getting out of hand.’’
NEMA’s inspectors have also complained about Crown Beverages, the manufacturers of Pepsi products, Mukwano’s AK Detergents that manufactures Nomi and Britannia. The companies work 24 hours releasing effluent, which is dangerous to aquatic life.
Britania’s manager N. Pathasarathy when contacted by The New Vision defended the factory.
“We have a permit for releasing waste water,’’ we are preparing to put in place a waste treatment plant,’’ said Pathasarathy.
A manager at Mukwano’s AK detergents preferred not to comment.
The operations manager of Crown Beverages, Paddy Muramira, confessed that they do not have a waste treatment plant, but have reduced their waste ahead of its installation in 2009.
When the waste gets into Lake Victoria, it leads to the growth of algae, which removes oxygen from water.
“This can negatively affect aquatic organisms such as fish,’’ says Bagoora.
Recommendation
NEMA is entering into compliance agreements with the concerned companies. “Should the companies default, they will be dragged to court,’’ says Bagoora.
While new factories are required to conduct environment impact assessment studies (EIA), the old industries have to undertake an environmental audit.
EIA is the study that is conducted to establish the likely environmental consequences and benefits of a proposed project. This also suggests mitigation measures.
Bagoora says NEMA has established standards that act as limits for releasing effluents because it is possible to reduce concentrations of waste over time.
As part of the waste management strategy, industries are expected to establish a waste treatment plant to the waste before releasing it into the environment.
Apart from Uganda Breweries Limited and Coca-Cola that have established waste treatment plants, the rest of the companies are far from improving the way they handle waste.
“We have been carrying out tests over the last three years to monitor the companies. The next step is to take to court industries that do not honour compliance agreements,’’ says Bagoora.
Dr Aryamanya Mugisha, the executive director of NEMA, says the compliance agreements last for a year, but can be reviewed.
A BAREFOOT woman with a basin between her hands hides behind a thicket at the edge of Kinawataka swamp.
She is one of the thousands of people that frequently bathe in the stream oblivious of the danger that is associated with polluted water in the swamp.
“Not many people are worried about the water,’’ says Irene Nakato, a resident of Kinawataka.
The water smells like rotten eggs and its colour is grey, but this has not stopped people from using it.
Each day, massive sewage, waste oil and unknown quantities of industrial waste are released into the swamp. In most of the parts tested by the National Environmental Management Authority’s (NEMA) inspection team, the water has almost been replaced with waste.
The pollution has led to the rapid growth of trees in the wetland and if unchecked, the swamp will turn into a forest, which provides different ecological roles.
“This is strange.
The swamp is becoming dry in some parts and because of the nutrients in the waste, trees that do not normally occur in wetlands have started appearing,’’ says Jennifer Kutesakwe, NEMA’s senior inspector.
This implies that more waste will seep through the swamp and contaminate Lake Victoria because the forest does not clean the waste water as wetlands do.
But the residents around the swamp do not give a hoot to the changing vegetation in parts of Kinawataka swamp as they move deeper into the wetland. Instead of shunning the swamp, the youth have turned it into a washing bay.
“This water sometimes itches, but we have no alternative to turn to,’’ says Moses Ssekitto, a resident. “The water has not killed anyone and I do not see why this place should be abandoned, ’’ he added.
Down stream, a short distance away from the washing bay, women and children collect water from the springs for domestic use.
In addition to this, investors are reclaiming the patches of swamp left at Kyambogo and they continue releasing untreated effluent into the swamp.
This runs through the swamp because a channel, that was illegally created to reduce flooding about five years ago, has instead become a route for the waste water down steam.
The three square kilometre swamp is a proposed wetland reserve, which NEMA says forms part of the Murchison Bay complex together with Nakivubo swamp.
Murchison bay is the mouth of Lake Victoria and is located a stone throw from Gaba Water Works, where water for the two million people residing in Kampala is pumped.
NEMA warns industries “We could not believe that the industries can release waste water into the swamp with impunity,’’ says Kutesakwe.
“On a surprise inspection, the NEMA team encountered white form spewing into a stream that drains into Kinawataka.â€
The team traced it backwards and discovered that Global Paper Limited, a factory manufacturing toilet paper, was the origin of the effluent.
“The company discharges untreated effluent into Kinawataka stream,’’ says Festus Bagoora NEMA’s director of Environmental Monitoring and compliance. “We shall not hesitate to close it because they do not want to cooperate with NEMA.’’
In an interview with The New Vision, Loux Ioc Ming, the manager of Global Paper, dismissed the NEMA report.
“It is not true that our industry is polluting the environment,†Ming said.
Bagoora shot back saying: “Some of these industries should be closed because they do not know what they are doing. It is not NEMA’s intention to shut them, but this is getting out of hand.’’
NEMA’s inspectors have also complained about Crown Beverages, the manufacturers of Pepsi products, Mukwano’s AK Detergents that manufactures Nomi and Britannia. The companies work 24 hours releasing effluent, which is dangerous to aquatic life.
Britania’s manager N. Pathasarathy when contacted by The New Vision defended the factory.
“We have a permit for releasing waste water,’’ we are preparing to put in place a waste treatment plant,’’ said Pathasarathy.
A manager at Mukwano’s AK detergents preferred not to comment.
The operations manager of Crown Beverages, Paddy Muramira, confessed that they do not have a waste treatment plant, but have reduced their waste ahead of its installation in 2009.
When the waste gets into Lake Victoria, it leads to the growth of algae, which removes oxygen from water.
“This can negatively affect aquatic organisms such as fish,’’ says Bagoora.
Recommendation
NEMA is entering into compliance agreements with the concerned companies. “Should the companies default, they will be dragged to court,’’ says Bagoora.
While new factories are required to conduct environment impact assessment studies (EIA), the old industries have to undertake an environmental audit.
EIA is the study that is conducted to establish the likely environmental consequences and benefits of a proposed project. This also suggests mitigation measures.
Bagoora says NEMA has established standards that act as limits for releasing effluents because it is possible to reduce concentrations of waste over time.
As part of the waste management strategy, industries are expected to establish a waste treatment plant to the waste before releasing it into the environment.
Apart from Uganda Breweries Limited and Coca-Cola that have established waste treatment plants, the rest of the companies are far from improving the way they handle waste.
“We have been carrying out tests over the last three years to monitor the companies. The next step is to take to court industries that do not honour compliance agreements,’’ says Bagoora.
Dr Aryamanya Mugisha, the executive director of NEMA, says the compliance agreements last for a year, but can be reviewed.