Fort Portal City authorities, NFA embark on restoring depleted wetlands

Authorities in Fort Portal city together with National Forestry Authority (NFA) have embarked on plans of restoring all the depleted wetlands by encroachers in the city that are currently under threat of extinction.
Fort Portal City senior physical planner, Mr Samuel Musana, said after being elevated from a municipality to a city status, they are now working on a physical development plan that will guide mitigating encroachmenton wetlands and forest reserves.
“As city we have embarked on the preparation of a physical development plan which will help to guide us in the developments coming to the city, we have laws that we want to be implemented,” he said.
Mr Musana said for any new structure to come up in the city, the developer will be required to get permission from the relevant city authorities.
“After finishing the physical development plan, we shall also be having special courts where we will prosecute people for breaking the law, we have enough staff who will be moving around monitoring,” Mr Musana said.
The plan by city authorities follows an outcry from city dwellers that much of the wetland is being depleted by developers.
Among the encroached areas are the river banks of River Mpanga which passes in the middle of the town, River Mugunu, Nyakimya swamp, Fort Portal forest reserve, Kitembe,Buhwaiga wetland among others.
The NFA Sector Manager, Mr John Giribo, said Fort Portal Forest Reserve is currently facing depletion from encroachers who have cut trees to establish gardens and all the rivers in the reserve forest have been drained.
 “We have started issuing notices of intention to evict all the people encroaching on Fort Portal forest reserve, it used to have wetland and it’s now depleted. We are going to restore it and have the green belt back,” he said, adding that the law will take its course on those who fail to comply.
Residents have been freely claiming wetlands in areas of Kitembe and Butagwa, putting up buildings while as well as on the banks of River Mpanga.
Ms Victoria Kidiya, Chairperson of Booma East Cell, said people have depleted most of the protected areas by establishing gardens or putting up buildings while others have planted eucalyptus trees.
The developers start by heaping soils in the wetlands and then start their constructions.
Other activities in the wetlands include brick laying, car washing bays.
The city authorities have so far blocked one developer for allegedly establishing a structure near the banks of River Mpanga without permission.