Cabinet approves environment Police

By Gerald Tenywa

THE Cabinet has approved the creation of a special Police to curb rampant environmental destruction.

“This will strengthen the enforcement of environmental laws,” said Aryamanya Mugisha, who heads the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

“It is an increasing challenge to keep people from destroying the environment.”
Mugisha said the specialised arm of the Police that will deal with environmental crime will be known as the Environment Protection Force and will have 600 officers. It is likely to become operational later this year.

“Part of the Environment Protection Force, numbering 150, will be in charge of forest reserves,” said Mugisha.
“The rest will handle other aspects of the environment like wetlands encroachment.”

He noted that the collapse of the ecological system is likely to lead to food insecurity and undermine the economy and welfare of communities.
He was speaking to The New Vision ahead of an inspection tour by officials of NEMA and the Wetlands Management Department in order to expose the wetland encroachers to the media.

The media were taken to two critical wetland reserves of Lake Victoria by the inspection team. At Kawuku, the team found fresh heaps of murram on land belonging to fashion guru Sylvia Owori.

It is alleged that for three years, Owori has been adamantly filling the two-acre wetland with murram. At Lutembe, the team came across a fresh fence, stretching about two kilometers.

The exporting flower firm, Rosebud, is expanding into the swamp, which is also a migratory stop over for two million white winged black terns.
The birds migrate in October to escape the harsh winter in Europe and go back in April.

“We have a land title issued by the lands ministry in 1981 and we shall continue with our development,” said the manager at Rosebud.

Asked if he knew about the laws banning the destruction of the wetlands, Dimple said: “Those are the technicalities which my boss Sudhir Ruparelia is sorting out.”