Swamp plot owners panic
Oct 24, 2003
NAKIVUBO swamp encroachers have begun selling plots of land at half the value,
By Gerald Tenywa
NAKIVUBO swamp encroachers have begun selling plots of land at half the value, fearing they might not get compensation in the ongoing process to gazette the swamp.
Norah Namakambo, a Ministry of Environment official recently said some owners of land were asking for as low as sh35m for plots that would fetch sh70m.
However, she said some skeptical potential buyers had approached the wetlands officials for advice after noticing that the land was so cheap.
“We have advised them not to buy the land because it is illegal to destroy wetlands," Namakambo said.
She said the Nakivubo swamp, which filters the waste waters entering Lake Victoria, became contentious because Kampala City Council (KCC) kept undermining efforts to protect Kampala’s most vital swamp.
Namakambo said KCC still approves building plans in the wetlands contrary to environmental laws.
She said efforts were underway to gazette the swamp as a protected area.
She said after wide consultations and awareness they had drawn new boundaries of the swamp.
Namakambo said the swamp, which has been reduced from 4.8 to only three square kilometres would undergo natural regeneration after eviction of thousands of encroachers.
She said some had built houses as ground to claim for compensation.
However, Namakambo warned that compensation would be considered only for houses that were built before the coming into force of the 1995 Constitution, which outlawed destruction of the swamps.
Bugolobi, one of the areas bordering the swamp, has recently attracted many settlers.
NAKIVUBO swamp encroachers have begun selling plots of land at half the value, fearing they might not get compensation in the ongoing process to gazette the swamp.
Norah Namakambo, a Ministry of Environment official recently said some owners of land were asking for as low as sh35m for plots that would fetch sh70m.
However, she said some skeptical potential buyers had approached the wetlands officials for advice after noticing that the land was so cheap.
“We have advised them not to buy the land because it is illegal to destroy wetlands," Namakambo said.
She said the Nakivubo swamp, which filters the waste waters entering Lake Victoria, became contentious because Kampala City Council (KCC) kept undermining efforts to protect Kampala’s most vital swamp.
Namakambo said KCC still approves building plans in the wetlands contrary to environmental laws.
She said efforts were underway to gazette the swamp as a protected area.
She said after wide consultations and awareness they had drawn new boundaries of the swamp.
Namakambo said the swamp, which has been reduced from 4.8 to only three square kilometres would undergo natural regeneration after eviction of thousands of encroachers.
She said some had built houses as ground to claim for compensation.
However, Namakambo warned that compensation would be considered only for houses that were built before the coming into force of the 1995 Constitution, which outlawed destruction of the swamps.
Bugolobi, one of the areas bordering the swamp, has recently attracted many settlers.