Urban planning key to wetland conservation
Mar 21, 2010
IT is business as usual in Kampala’s wetlands. On one side of the city, floods are threatening to swallow those settled in low lying areas that used to be wetlands.
By Gerald Tenywa
IT is business as usual in Kampala’s wetlands. On one side of the city, floods are threatening to swallow those settled in low lying areas that used to be wetlands.
Areas like Kalerwe and Bwaise in Kawempe Division, Nalukolongo, Wakaliga and Nateete in Lubaga Division, Kyambogo and Banda in Nakawa are not spared.
Cholera strikes at will in Namuwongo, Makindye Division, a city suburb which partly sits on a swamp. These occurrances have left many people wondering why the affected do not move to habitable areas.
Despite the public’s concern, the residents of Banda seem unbothered. As their counterparts at Kalerwe and Namuwongo battle the floods and cholera, residents of Banda are advancing into the heart of Kinawataka swamp, putting up new structures and a road that cuts across the swamp to link them to the rest of the world.
NEMA overwhelmed
But why is the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the Government’s watchdog on environment, not moving in to arrest the situation?
“We are overwhelmed by the problem,†says Dick Lufafa, an environmental inspector at NEMA. “It is so easy to access land within the wetlands. The pioneer encroachers often get it free and later sell it to investors. The encroachers then move deeper into the wetland.â€
Other problems include increased population pressure and poor urban planning, according to Lufafa. “It is costly to travel a distance of 10km to the city centre to work. Therefore, people prefer to live in the outskirts (within a radius of 6km),†he says.
Paul Mafabi, the wetland commissioner, says wetland management is a shared responsibility. The Wetlands Management Department and NEMA are supposed to be overseers. They also empower local governments to monitor the wetlands.
Where is the local governance?
In Kampala, the LCs who are supposed to lead the effort to protect wetlands instead endorse the papers of the encroachers.
By the time the environmental bodies get to know about the transaction, the development is in its advanced stages.
In a desperate attempt to save the wetlands, Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, the head of NEMA, recently released a ‘list of shame’ consisting of non-compliant individuals and firms. However, the culprits seem to have become immune to shame.
NEMA has also persistently dragged abusers to court. For instance NEMA demolished the house of Godfrey Nyakana, the Kampala Central LC3 chairman, because it was built in Nakivubo swamp. Even when Nyakana sued NEMA for its action, Nyakana lost the case.
Unfortunately, this too has not yielded much. The local leaders and other big shots in the city, employ scouts who go around the city looking for any available space.
After the hunt, their masters seek approval from Kampala District Land Board and then sell the land to the developers. When NEMA tries to contest the reclamation of such areas, it faces stiff opposition.
The LCs who got a share from the transaction mobilise the communities to resist eviction while the politicians refer to the destroyers of the wetlands as developers and label the law enforcement agencies like NEMA ‘saboteurs’. The politicians also give the encroachers protection in exchange for votes.
Environmental activists speak out
If floods, epidemics, court decisions and lists of shame cannot stop encroachment, how many ministerial directives are going to send the encroachers away?
Godber Tumushabe, the director of the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, says even the environmental police will not achieve much.
This, he says, is because government institutions like the Police and NEMA are seen by the urban poor as agents of the elite. The poor look at themselves as being at the tail end of a cruel society that is blocking their way to prosperity.
Given a choice, how many people
would wish to stay in the wetlands or near industries puffing polluted air? Tumushabe wonders.
“People who have the means stay in the upper residential areas of Kampala,†he says. “The poor people do not have power to influence decisions.â€
Recommendations
Kampala needs proper planning. “There are places that are not habitable. I do not know how much drainage you need at Kalerwe to take away all that water,†says Tumushabe.
“It is possible to solve the problem by relocating residents in such areas if there is commitment within the central and local government.â€
For instance, in Nairobi, construction of high rise building blocks to house the Kibera slum dwellers is underway. Kibera is the largest and most highly populated slum area in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
The slum dwellers live in shanty houses covering a wide area in this part of Nairobi. To reduce the rate of expansion and improve the living conditions in this slum, government has decided to construct housing units for these people.
“No amount of terror will drive away people from wetlands as long as they do not have where to go,†says Tumushabe. “Policemen coming to the slums will not solve the land conflicts.
They will probably silence the poor people by pushing them underground, but this will breed violence.â€
In short, the solution to wetlands conservation lies in addressing the hunger, providing better, acceptable and suitable alternatives and helping the urban poor lead dignified lives. Proper urban planning, according to Tumushabe, will help address all these issues.
Despite all the dangers associated with encroachment on wetlands, why do you think people still flock the wetlands? How can the problem be addressed?
Send your response to:
features@newvision.co.ug or sms 8338
IT is business as usual in Kampala’s wetlands. On one side of the city, floods are threatening to swallow those settled in low lying areas that used to be wetlands.
Areas like Kalerwe and Bwaise in Kawempe Division, Nalukolongo, Wakaliga and Nateete in Lubaga Division, Kyambogo and Banda in Nakawa are not spared.
Cholera strikes at will in Namuwongo, Makindye Division, a city suburb which partly sits on a swamp. These occurrances have left many people wondering why the affected do not move to habitable areas.
Despite the public’s concern, the residents of Banda seem unbothered. As their counterparts at Kalerwe and Namuwongo battle the floods and cholera, residents of Banda are advancing into the heart of Kinawataka swamp, putting up new structures and a road that cuts across the swamp to link them to the rest of the world.
NEMA overwhelmed
But why is the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the Government’s watchdog on environment, not moving in to arrest the situation?
“We are overwhelmed by the problem,†says Dick Lufafa, an environmental inspector at NEMA. “It is so easy to access land within the wetlands. The pioneer encroachers often get it free and later sell it to investors. The encroachers then move deeper into the wetland.â€
Other problems include increased population pressure and poor urban planning, according to Lufafa. “It is costly to travel a distance of 10km to the city centre to work. Therefore, people prefer to live in the outskirts (within a radius of 6km),†he says.
Paul Mafabi, the wetland commissioner, says wetland management is a shared responsibility. The Wetlands Management Department and NEMA are supposed to be overseers. They also empower local governments to monitor the wetlands.
Where is the local governance?
In Kampala, the LCs who are supposed to lead the effort to protect wetlands instead endorse the papers of the encroachers.
By the time the environmental bodies get to know about the transaction, the development is in its advanced stages.
In a desperate attempt to save the wetlands, Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, the head of NEMA, recently released a ‘list of shame’ consisting of non-compliant individuals and firms. However, the culprits seem to have become immune to shame.
NEMA has also persistently dragged abusers to court. For instance NEMA demolished the house of Godfrey Nyakana, the Kampala Central LC3 chairman, because it was built in Nakivubo swamp. Even when Nyakana sued NEMA for its action, Nyakana lost the case.
Unfortunately, this too has not yielded much. The local leaders and other big shots in the city, employ scouts who go around the city looking for any available space.
After the hunt, their masters seek approval from Kampala District Land Board and then sell the land to the developers. When NEMA tries to contest the reclamation of such areas, it faces stiff opposition.
The LCs who got a share from the transaction mobilise the communities to resist eviction while the politicians refer to the destroyers of the wetlands as developers and label the law enforcement agencies like NEMA ‘saboteurs’. The politicians also give the encroachers protection in exchange for votes.
Environmental activists speak out
If floods, epidemics, court decisions and lists of shame cannot stop encroachment, how many ministerial directives are going to send the encroachers away?
Godber Tumushabe, the director of the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, says even the environmental police will not achieve much.
This, he says, is because government institutions like the Police and NEMA are seen by the urban poor as agents of the elite. The poor look at themselves as being at the tail end of a cruel society that is blocking their way to prosperity.
Given a choice, how many people
would wish to stay in the wetlands or near industries puffing polluted air? Tumushabe wonders.
“People who have the means stay in the upper residential areas of Kampala,†he says. “The poor people do not have power to influence decisions.â€
Recommendations
Kampala needs proper planning. “There are places that are not habitable. I do not know how much drainage you need at Kalerwe to take away all that water,†says Tumushabe.
“It is possible to solve the problem by relocating residents in such areas if there is commitment within the central and local government.â€
For instance, in Nairobi, construction of high rise building blocks to house the Kibera slum dwellers is underway. Kibera is the largest and most highly populated slum area in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
The slum dwellers live in shanty houses covering a wide area in this part of Nairobi. To reduce the rate of expansion and improve the living conditions in this slum, government has decided to construct housing units for these people.
“No amount of terror will drive away people from wetlands as long as they do not have where to go,†says Tumushabe. “Policemen coming to the slums will not solve the land conflicts.
They will probably silence the poor people by pushing them underground, but this will breed violence.â€
In short, the solution to wetlands conservation lies in addressing the hunger, providing better, acceptable and suitable alternatives and helping the urban poor lead dignified lives. Proper urban planning, according to Tumushabe, will help address all these issues.
Despite all the dangers associated with encroachment on wetlands, why do you think people still flock the wetlands? How can the problem be addressed?
Send your response to:
features@newvision.co.ug or sms 8338