NEMA takes sting out of modified mosquito plan

The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has not yet granted Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) approval to introduce genetically modified mosquitoes.
Nema was reacting to this publication's story published on May 6 in which Mr Fabrice Rulinda, the Entebbe mayor, said the UVRI approached them about the plan to introduce modified mosquitoes to support the fight against malaria. 
Mr Rulinda said he judged the proposal on its merits.

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But Nema spokesperson, Mr Tony Achidria, told Saturday Monitor that they have only approved the rearing of wild mosquitoes ahead of the planned introduction of genetically modified mosquitoes (GMMs).
“Nema has not approved the introduction of genetically modified mosquitoes. What Nema approved in 2017 was the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for an insectary (for rearing mosquitoes),” he said.
“The purpose of this insectary was to build the capacity of the staff of UVRI to handle insects, specifically these mosquitoes. Before you introduce any foreign or modified biodiversity, you must be able to contain it,” he added.
Mr Achidria said the insectary currently collects mosquitoes in the wild and keeps them.
“When they want to introduce GMMs, that will require a separate Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to be undertaken and also the approval from Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, and the National Biosafety Committee…that stage has not yet been reached,” he added.
UVRI’s plan to introduce GMMs has been met with bitter reactions from members of the public and conservationists. 
Those against the plan say the modified mosquitoes present serious risks to human health and the environment.
Reacting to the May 6 article, UVRI’s top brass said the ongoing engagement with different stakeholders doesn’t mean they are already having GMMs.
“We have no genetically modified mosquitoes now for release,” Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, the UVRI director, said.
Last Friday, Prof Kaleebu told Daily Monitor that they “are now preparing to work on a modified mosquito.” He hastened to add that the process “has not yet started, but we have put in mechanism on how we can contain it.” The UVRI director didn’t deny saying this. The newspaper reporting was based on Mr Rulinda’s communication at the commissioning of the clinical research facility in UVRI on May 5.
“Last time, these people from the institute [UVRI] approached me and they said they are bringing new mosquitoes to the community. I was surprised. I told them we already have enough [mosquitoes], but they told me these are biologically modified and they will give birth to only male mosquitoes,” he said on May 5.
Mr Richard Ronny Linga, the communication officer at Target Malaria, the project behind the drive to introduce GMMs, in an interview with Saturday Monitor, admitted that they approached the Entebbe mayor about the plans.