The leaders say assessments done by the district environment staff are sometimes ignored by NEMA
Leaders in Wakiso District have accused the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) of frustrating their efforts to restore the environment.
However, Nema has refuted the accusations, saying while they cannot reach every corner of the country, local authorities can.
Mr Alfred Malinga, the Wakiso District Chief Administrative Officer, said assessments done by the district environment staff are sometimes ignored by Nema.
“When Nema sends environmental impact assessments to our staff at the district for review, at times where they say no, Nema goes ahead to issue permits to investors and developers who want to occupy wetlands,” Mr Malinga said during an action planning meeting for environment and natural resources in Nansana Municipality on Wednesday.
He said that this lack of environmental conscience is likely to undermine all efforts aimed at restoring wetlands.
“My challenge is why they keep pointing fingers at us yet they have the supreme powers over wetlands and other ecosystems. This will never help the country to restore the degraded fragile eco-systems,” he added.
Mr Malinga cited the degrading of the Lake Victoria shores at Kaazi in Busabala which the district environment team stopped but Nema went ahead to sanction.
“A person applied for a license to use that area and we said no, but the magnitude of degradation now is worrying because they have already done backfilling,” he said
Mr Esau Mpoza, the Wakiso District environment officer, said the district cannot handle restoration exercises alone because they lack an enforcement team.
“We don’t have environmental police. Ours is to make alerts and seek help,” he said.
Mr Francis Ogwal, a senior manager at Nema, however, said Nema cannot reach every corner of the country but local authorities can.
“The National Environment Act 2019 is very clear because it indicates the responsibility of each lead agency and also empowers local governments to manage wetlands in their areas of jurisdiction,” Mr Ogwal said.
Authorities have in the past decade been evicting encroachers from various wetlands, but some defiant encroachers keep reconstructing new houses and makeshift structures in such areas.
In late May, Nema started fresh forceful evictions in the Lubigi wetland where hundreds of people saw their houses demolished and many are currently sleeping in the cold.
The law
Section 36 of the National Environment Act 2019 provides for the protection of wetlands and prohibits reclamation, and erection of illegal structures and empowers authorities to demolish any structure that is fixed in, on, under, or above any wetland.
The Act also empowers districts to manage wetlands within their jurisdictions and ensure that their boundaries are demarcated so that even as water levels and wetland vegetation recede, the communities are clear on where the boundaries lie.
