Encroachment on wetlands: Who is to blame?
Sep 09, 2007
A pile of red bricks outside a leaky shelter belonging to Moses Kasedde at the edge of Nakivubo swamp shows his intentions to construct a better house. He is one of the thousands of the urban poor who have over the years settled in crammed houses at the edge of Nakivubo swamp in Kitintale.
By Gerald Tenywa
A pile of red bricks outside a leaky shelter belonging to Moses Kasedde at the edge of Nakivubo swamp shows his intentions to construct a better house. He is one of the thousands of the urban poor who have over the years settled in crammed houses at the edge of Nakivubo swamp in Kitintale.
But like many of his neighbours, Kasedde is worried that he may never realise the rewards of his sweat.
“I hope nothing goes wrong because I have gone through many hardships, trying to put a decent roof over my children,’’ says Kasedde, a father of six, who works as a food vendor in Kitintale Market.
“Only death will get me off this land.’’
However, his aspiration is under threat. About five years ago, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) declared that three of Kampala’s wetlands would be turned into reserves.
The top environmental watchdog made a statement of intent when they demolished a house belonging to Godfrey Nyakana, the LC3 chairman of Kampala central division, which he had built in the marshy area separating Kitintale and Bugolobi.
The act shocked the encroachers as NEMA warned that it would leave no stone unturned to secure this wetland, which is critical for filtering water before releasing the clean water into Murchison Bay.
The water treatment costs at Gaba Water Works located a stone throw away from Murchison Bay has increased by three-fold because the ability of Nakivubo swamp to clean out the waste is getting compromised.
But two years after the demolition of Nyakana’s house, encroachers have moved deeper into the swamp and have set up 100 new houses.
In other parts of the wetland near Silver Springs Hotel, tonnes of marrum are being poured into the swamp to create land, while pushing water further.
Not far from Silver Springs, there is a dumping site that has kept on eating into the wetland disregarding the Environmental Act that outlaws dumping in wetlands.
According to a report released by Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, NEMA’s head recently, the original area of Nakivubo has reduced from 4.4 square kilometres to 2.8 square kilometres in 1991, then to 1.9 square kilometres in 1995 and 1.3 square kilometres in 2000. Current estimates indicate the size to be less than one square kilometre.
“The population of illegal settlers in the wetlands is estimated to be over 10,000, with the main concentration being Kitintale zone in Nakawa division,’’ reads the report.
This kind of destruction is repeated in a nearby swamp known as Kinawataka located between Kyambogo, Banda, Mbuya and Naguru hill.
“We have written to the LCs to stop the destruction of the swamp, but they have not given us any feedback,’’ says Paul Mafabi, the commissioner in charge of the Wetland Department.
“It is the responsibility of the communities and KCC to protect the wetlands.’’
Mugisha says the role of environmental bodies is to advise on how the wetlands should be managed, but at the moment, the priority is to remove the encroachers and stop fresh encroachment.
He adds: “Time and again, people living in wetland areas where marrum and waste dumping has taken place, have indicated that the dumping is done by unknown truck drivers at awkward hours.’’
In addition, the developers move in during holidays when the enforcement staff are not on duty.
So far, NEMA and the Wetlands Inspection Division organised meetings with the communities around Kinawataka and Nakivubo, warning wetland encroachers to vacate so that wetlands can be left to do their role.
While the environmental bodies are planning to restore the degraded parts of the wetlands, KCC is busy creating turmoil by offering more leases in the wetlands.
In parts of Kireka and Bugolobi, stories are abound that the swathes of Nakivubo and Kinawataka are being leased to developers. Most of the developers that have failed to get land outside the swamp are now competing with the yam cultivators in the swamp.
Sources revealed that a rich Somali business woman has “compensated’’ yam growers and brick-makers near Silver Springs Hotel to vacate the swamp.
“That part of the swamp may be no more by the end of the year,’’ a source told The New Vision during a survey recently.
In Kampala district, most of the wetlands have been taken up for industrial and residential developments and this trend has not been halted.
The absence of housing schemes for the urban poor has complicated work for the environment agencies because the desperate poor people move into the wetlands.
The political support for the protection of the environment is fading. The country has many laws on the environment, but most of them have been shelved as politicians seek cheap popularity as they protect “their voters.’’
Over the years, there appears to be increasing activities being undertaken in wetlands in the name of fighting poverty.
While some of these activities are incompatible with wetland conservation, their promoters have vigorously defended them as intended to assist the fight against poverty.
For instance, brick-making in wetlands, which is done for economic gains, has tended to give no regard at all to wetland conservation or restoration.
“It is probable that this attitude stems from the old perception that wetlands are wasted land,’’ Mugisha says.
He says preventing encroachment is better than evicting encroachers. But now the environmental bodies are in a maze and hampered by lack of funding to proceed with establishment of the reserves.
“We intend to evict all encroachers on wetlands in Kampala starting next month,’’ says Mugisha.
“This is important because when the city wetlands are gone, the burden of meeting the swelling cost of cleaning water and treating diseases will rest on the shoulders of Kampala’s residents.’’
A pile of red bricks outside a leaky shelter belonging to Moses Kasedde at the edge of Nakivubo swamp shows his intentions to construct a better house. He is one of the thousands of the urban poor who have over the years settled in crammed houses at the edge of Nakivubo swamp in Kitintale.
But like many of his neighbours, Kasedde is worried that he may never realise the rewards of his sweat.
“I hope nothing goes wrong because I have gone through many hardships, trying to put a decent roof over my children,’’ says Kasedde, a father of six, who works as a food vendor in Kitintale Market.
“Only death will get me off this land.’’
However, his aspiration is under threat. About five years ago, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) declared that three of Kampala’s wetlands would be turned into reserves.
The top environmental watchdog made a statement of intent when they demolished a house belonging to Godfrey Nyakana, the LC3 chairman of Kampala central division, which he had built in the marshy area separating Kitintale and Bugolobi.
The act shocked the encroachers as NEMA warned that it would leave no stone unturned to secure this wetland, which is critical for filtering water before releasing the clean water into Murchison Bay.
The water treatment costs at Gaba Water Works located a stone throw away from Murchison Bay has increased by three-fold because the ability of Nakivubo swamp to clean out the waste is getting compromised.
But two years after the demolition of Nyakana’s house, encroachers have moved deeper into the swamp and have set up 100 new houses.
In other parts of the wetland near Silver Springs Hotel, tonnes of marrum are being poured into the swamp to create land, while pushing water further.
Not far from Silver Springs, there is a dumping site that has kept on eating into the wetland disregarding the Environmental Act that outlaws dumping in wetlands.
According to a report released by Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, NEMA’s head recently, the original area of Nakivubo has reduced from 4.4 square kilometres to 2.8 square kilometres in 1991, then to 1.9 square kilometres in 1995 and 1.3 square kilometres in 2000. Current estimates indicate the size to be less than one square kilometre.
“The population of illegal settlers in the wetlands is estimated to be over 10,000, with the main concentration being Kitintale zone in Nakawa division,’’ reads the report.
This kind of destruction is repeated in a nearby swamp known as Kinawataka located between Kyambogo, Banda, Mbuya and Naguru hill.
“We have written to the LCs to stop the destruction of the swamp, but they have not given us any feedback,’’ says Paul Mafabi, the commissioner in charge of the Wetland Department.
“It is the responsibility of the communities and KCC to protect the wetlands.’’
Mugisha says the role of environmental bodies is to advise on how the wetlands should be managed, but at the moment, the priority is to remove the encroachers and stop fresh encroachment.
He adds: “Time and again, people living in wetland areas where marrum and waste dumping has taken place, have indicated that the dumping is done by unknown truck drivers at awkward hours.’’
In addition, the developers move in during holidays when the enforcement staff are not on duty.
So far, NEMA and the Wetlands Inspection Division organised meetings with the communities around Kinawataka and Nakivubo, warning wetland encroachers to vacate so that wetlands can be left to do their role.
While the environmental bodies are planning to restore the degraded parts of the wetlands, KCC is busy creating turmoil by offering more leases in the wetlands.
In parts of Kireka and Bugolobi, stories are abound that the swathes of Nakivubo and Kinawataka are being leased to developers. Most of the developers that have failed to get land outside the swamp are now competing with the yam cultivators in the swamp.
Sources revealed that a rich Somali business woman has “compensated’’ yam growers and brick-makers near Silver Springs Hotel to vacate the swamp.
“That part of the swamp may be no more by the end of the year,’’ a source told The New Vision during a survey recently.
In Kampala district, most of the wetlands have been taken up for industrial and residential developments and this trend has not been halted.
The absence of housing schemes for the urban poor has complicated work for the environment agencies because the desperate poor people move into the wetlands.
The political support for the protection of the environment is fading. The country has many laws on the environment, but most of them have been shelved as politicians seek cheap popularity as they protect “their voters.’’
Over the years, there appears to be increasing activities being undertaken in wetlands in the name of fighting poverty.
While some of these activities are incompatible with wetland conservation, their promoters have vigorously defended them as intended to assist the fight against poverty.
For instance, brick-making in wetlands, which is done for economic gains, has tended to give no regard at all to wetland conservation or restoration.
“It is probable that this attitude stems from the old perception that wetlands are wasted land,’’ Mugisha says.
He says preventing encroachment is better than evicting encroachers. But now the environmental bodies are in a maze and hampered by lack of funding to proceed with establishment of the reserves.
“We intend to evict all encroachers on wetlands in Kampala starting next month,’’ says Mugisha.
“This is important because when the city wetlands are gone, the burden of meeting the swelling cost of cleaning water and treating diseases will rest on the shoulders of Kampala’s residents.’’