Prime
KCCA shuts down Mukwano factory
A KCCA worker locks the gets to one of the warehouses at the factory premises yesterday. PHOTO BY Stephen Otage
What you need to know:
The factory management is accused of polluting the environment by using outdated technology of saw dust to heat up its boilers.
KAMPALA
At least 2,500 people could lose their jobs after Kampala Capital City Authority yesterday shut down the Mukwano Soap Factory in Industrial Area over what the Authority termed “a public health nuisance.”
Mukwano Chief Executive Officer Tony Gadhoke yesterday said they were concentrating on ensuring that the commodities they have in their inventory reaches their customers so that they are not affected by the closure. He did not give the time frame when the industry would be re-opened. “Right now we cannot calculate the loss we will incur but once we’re open, we shall be able to asses ourselves,” Mr Gadhoke said.
The factory management is accused of polluting the environment by using outdated technology of saw dust to heat up its boilers. The authority said this emits a lot of carbon into the atmosphere.
The company is also accused of failing to raise its chimneys to acceptable heights as well as failing to treat its chemical waste before discharging it into Nakivubo channel, acts which contravene the Public Health Act.
According to Dr John Lule, the KCCA principal health officer, the factory management refused to comply with KCCA instructions served on March 7 and 15 this year. The city authority wants the factory to change its combustions system from biomass to another appropriate energy source which does not emit heavy smoke into the atmosphere.
It is also required to raise its chimney pipes to an appropriate height which does not direct smoke to the public. In addition, it is required to present to KCCA Directorate of Health and Environment a Nema environmental audit report proving that their emission levels are safe to the environment and the general public.
“I am going to get the water samples in the Nakivubo Channel for the government chemist to test their toxicity. These people drain their liquid waste in the Nakivubo channel,” Dr Lule said, adding that this is the beginning of the clampdown on all factories which dump industrial waste into Nakivubo channel.
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation has been complaining of the high cost of treating water at its pumping sites due to presence of heavy effluent which are attributed to factories which dump them in the Nakivubo Channel.
The Mukwano Industries Public Relations Manager, Mr Allen Onzima, said the development had taken them by surprise. “I need to get my facts right then I can make a comment,” he said.
It is not yet known if other factories along the Nakivubo Channel and along wetland which discharge chemicals into lake Victoria are affected. Mukwano has another soap factory in Nakawa. It was not possible to ascertain if that one was also affected.
