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Nema, three firms agree on Lwera wetland restoration
An official from the National Environment Management Authority measures the depth of an open pit at one of the sand mining sites in Lwera Swamp, Mpigi District, on February 12, 2020. PHOTO/FILE/AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA
What you need to know:
- The companies were mining sand at the wetland and left open pits.
The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has reached an understanding with three sand mining companies, whose operational permits expired, but left open pits in Lwera swamp on Kampala-Masaka Highway.
Although the three firms - Lukaya Sandmind Limited, known as Double Q, HK Investments, and Water Cube, had abandoned their mining sites early this year, Nema says the managers have written to them agreeing to restore the sites.
Apart from the open pits filled with water, they are becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes and there are also fears that Lake Victoria may submerge the road because of sand mining near its shores.
According to Maj Joshua Karamagi, the manager of Environment Protection Force in Nema, when the three firms abandoned the sites, the authority impounded their machinery and they agreed to hand them over to the owners after the restoration process has been done.
“The companies, whose permits expired, are going to do the restoration process after signing Nema compliance certificates. This is a step in the right direction and we are waiting to see them doing the needful,” Maj Karamagi told Monitor yesterday.
He added: “ These companies have fines to pay after the restoration process and when everything is done, our team will handle the rest, including giving them their machinery.”
Lwera swamp, which stretches 20 kilometres, is shared by the districts of Mpigi and Kalungu.
Nema has in recent months secured new satellite technology to monitor the sand mining companies operating in Lwera.
“We are now able to monitor all sand mining activities in Lwera using our new technology right from our offices in Kampala. But we also ask local leaders to give us information if they see any encroachers or any sand mining company operating without following Nema guidelines,” Dr Jerom Ssebaduka Lugumire , the natural resource specialist at Nema, said.
He reiterated that when all operational permits for sand mining firms in Lwera expire, no new permits will be issued.
“Following the presidential directive on environment, Nema is not going to renew any permit for companies operating in Lwera,that’s the reason why when the contract for Jamasco Investment Ltd, the only remaining company with valid permit in Lwera expires in 2026, we will not renew it,” he said.
Currently, all gazetted sand mining sites in Lwera are heavily guarded by soldiers and not accessible to the public.
Prof Gilbert Bukenya, the senior presidential adviser on Environment and Sanitation, has welcomed the restoration efforts in Lwera.
“This is a nice move of restoring the environment in Lwera, but I also ask Nema…to fight all those people operating in other wetlands without proper documentation,” he said.
Last year, Nema announced that it had indefinitely suspended the receipt, processing and issuance of environmental impact assessment certificates and permits in wetlands.
According to Nema executive director, Dr Akankwasa Barirega, the suspension is intended to reduce pressure on the resource to build institutional capacity to regulate developments in wetlands.
About Lwera Swamp
Lwera swamp, which stretches 20km, is a major water catchment area for Lake Victoria. It connects several rivers and wetlands in Gomba, Mpigi and Kalungu districts.
The wetland has, however, been encroached on by sand miners, rice growers, among others.
A 2016 report by the parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources revealed that sand miners had affected fish stocks in Lake Victoria since the swamp is also a breeding area.
The committee recommended a ban on sand mining.
