Nema maintains strict rules to approve Entebbe hotel project
Nema Executive Director, Dr Akankwasa Barirega (in a suit) inspects former Ssese Gateway Beach on December 17, 2021, where Ruparelia was pouring soil. The developer has since desilted the degarded part on the lake. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Nema insists that although Mr Ruparelia possesses a valid ESIA certificate, he is supposed to follow on the set rules before actual constructions kicks off.
The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has maintained strict rules to clear a multi-billion hotel project at former Ssese Gateway Beach in Entebbe Municipality, Wakiso District.
The project undertaken by Ruparelia Group of Companies will have a convention centre, restaurants and marina among other facilities.
Last December, Nema issued strict rules that were to be followed by the developer in order to get approval.
Among the rules issued by Nema, the developer was supposed to remove all the soil dumped in Lake Victoria and also stop excavation of murrum from burrow pits without securing approvals as required by the law.
The developer was asked to explore design adjustments to take care of the impacts of the rising water levels of Lake Victoria so that the other portion of the land taken up by the lake is kept as a lake or used for non-permanent structure uses like a beach.
The developer was also required to apply for a Lakeshore user permit from Nema as recommended by Wakiso District Local Government (through the environment officer).
However, a visit to the site by Nema board members last week revealed that apart from removing the murrum that had been dumped at the fringes of the lakeshores, none of the other directives have been implemented.
“As you know construction works at that site [former Ssese Gateway Beach] were halted by Nema to protect the lake from pollution especially potential soil siltation and since we stopped development of the site, the developer has been giving us update reports until we decided to come on ground and further discuss how the development could potentially happen without compromising the integrity and the ecological status of the lake,” Dr Barirega Akankwasah, the Nema executive director said in an interview on Saturday.
The team advised the developer to change the proposed site for waste treatment to a better location and also ensure that the proposed hotel building is in a place, which allows a bigger buffer between the structures and the lake.
“There must be a free natural beach which is not affected by the physical structures,” he added
Dr Akankwasah said the board would soon write to the developer to formally communicate what they discovered during the field visit.
Dr John Ekure, a member of Nema’s technical board said: “We want to assure the developer that Nema is for development not frustrating the project, but we want the work to be done as we also protect the lake, therefore, as soon as the developer meets the conditions laid out by Nema, the lakeshore user permit will be issued.”
The chief projects manager Ruparelia Group of Companies, Mr Hassan Ssentongo, said all issues raised by Nema team would be addressed soon.
”One of the issues has been about the buffer, we had initially considered enough distance, but the rising water level reduced it. They [Nema] have advised that we concentrate our construction works 20 metres away from the shoreline and that is going to be followed. We are hopeful that the project will go on after fulfilling those conditions.”
By the time Nema and local leaders intervened on December 09, 2021, the developer had claimed the lake’s protected buffer zone measuring about five acres.
According to the Nema Act, any person constructing a permanent structure in a 200-metre buffer zone must seek clearance from Nema.
READ: We must all protect the environment
Nema insists that although Mr Ruparelia possesses a valid ESIA certificate, he is supposed to follow on the set rules before actual constructions kicks off. The only approved construction works are at gatehouse which is far from the lake shoreline.
