KCC Ordered To Redesign Nakivubo Channel Mouth
May 15, 2003
THE state minister for environment, Dr. Kezimbira Miyingo, has ordered Kampala City Council (KCC) to redesign the end of the Nakivubo Channel to save Lake Victoria from increased pollution.<br>
By Charles Wendo and Gerald Tenywa
THE state minister for environment, Dr. Kezimbira Miyingo, has ordered Kampala City Council (KCC) to redesign the end of the Nakivubo Channel to save Lake Victoria from increased pollution.
The channel, Kampala’s main drainage conduit, is being rehabilitated with a $17m loan from the World Bank.
Miyingo yesterday said his directive followed a tour of the channel, during which he witnessed a host of problems. Instead of scattering water through the Nakivubo wetland, the channel delivers it in one stream.
“The channel is ending wrongly. It is supposed to spread water in the swamp and this has not been done. The water does not get enough time to stagnate,†he said.
In recent months, The New Vision has highlighted the poor design of the channel and the encroachment onto the Nakivubo wetland that led to increased pollution of Lake Victoria’s Inner Murchison Bay, the source of Kampala’s piped water.
At the same time, large amounts of silt, polythene papers and other plastic materials are threatening to block the channel even before the rehabilitation is completed. The intake of silt has increased partly because of failure to make a grass belt around the channel.
In addition, hydrologists say the project is failing to resolve Kampala’s flooding largely because surface water from most parts of the city cannot easily find a way into the channel.
This is due to poorly planned housing.
Miyingo directed KCC and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to form a technical committee to ensure that the end of the Nakivubo Channel is reticulated.
He also asked them to find solutions to the other problems that threaten to cripple the channel.
“Failure to reticulate the end of the channel would mean more pollution,†Miyingo said.
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation fears that due to the pollution, the cost of treating Kampala’s piped water may rise by $500,000 annually.
This may lead to an increase in water prices.
In addition, larger amounts of water-treating chemicals have to be applied, posing a risk to the consumers. Ends
THE state minister for environment, Dr. Kezimbira Miyingo, has ordered Kampala City Council (KCC) to redesign the end of the Nakivubo Channel to save Lake Victoria from increased pollution.
The channel, Kampala’s main drainage conduit, is being rehabilitated with a $17m loan from the World Bank.
Miyingo yesterday said his directive followed a tour of the channel, during which he witnessed a host of problems. Instead of scattering water through the Nakivubo wetland, the channel delivers it in one stream.
“The channel is ending wrongly. It is supposed to spread water in the swamp and this has not been done. The water does not get enough time to stagnate,†he said.
In recent months, The New Vision has highlighted the poor design of the channel and the encroachment onto the Nakivubo wetland that led to increased pollution of Lake Victoria’s Inner Murchison Bay, the source of Kampala’s piped water.
At the same time, large amounts of silt, polythene papers and other plastic materials are threatening to block the channel even before the rehabilitation is completed. The intake of silt has increased partly because of failure to make a grass belt around the channel.
In addition, hydrologists say the project is failing to resolve Kampala’s flooding largely because surface water from most parts of the city cannot easily find a way into the channel.
This is due to poorly planned housing.
Miyingo directed KCC and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to form a technical committee to ensure that the end of the Nakivubo Channel is reticulated.
He also asked them to find solutions to the other problems that threaten to cripple the channel.
“Failure to reticulate the end of the channel would mean more pollution,†Miyingo said.
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation fears that due to the pollution, the cost of treating Kampala’s piped water may rise by $500,000 annually.
This may lead to an increase in water prices.
In addition, larger amounts of water-treating chemicals have to be applied, posing a risk to the consumers. Ends