Africa-Press – Uganda. The government has ordered people who had returned to flood-prone areas on the shores of Lake Victoria to relocate to safer areas as the rainy season begins.
The second major rain season in the central region normally occurs from September to December.
However, weather experts recently predicted that the rain will be destructive in some parts of the country, especially in the central region.
Dr Callist Tindimugaya, the water resource specialist at the Ministry of Water and Environment, on Monday told Daily Monitor that based Lake Victoria is likely to burst its banks.
“Basing on what we experienced last year, where water levels hit 13.48 metres, the highest since 1964, we cannot sit back and watch. We are advising our people to leave now before the seasonal rain intensifies,” he said.
Dr Tindimugaya said Lake Victoria water levels are currently at 12.92 metres.
“While it [water level] is lower than 13.50 metres we recorded in May, when it starts raining, we expect the water level to raise beyond 13.50 metres,” he said.
Dr Tindimugaya said water levels in all water bodies across the country could have been contained if nearby wetlands and forests were still intact.
“The rate of urbanisation is very high, yet wetlands, which are meant to be water reservoirs, have been destroyed. As long as we continue tampering with water catchment areas to create settlements, this problem [of flooding] will continue.” Dr Tindimugaya added.
Rising water levels in Lake Victoria early last year caused flooding, displacing thousands of residents in various landing sites.
The victims were temporarily sheltered in makeshift houses as they waited for the government to resettle them permanently.
However, the affected communities in areas of Mukono, Ggaba, Munyonyo, Entebbe, Mpigi and Masaka early this year started returning to their homes, claiming the resettlement programme had been delayed.
In Entebbe Municipality, Wakiso District, where 5,000 people returned to their homes in Namiiro wetland late last year, there is no indication that residents will vacate soon.
Engaged in activities
Some are currently engaged in farming, bricklaying and repairing damaged houses while others are constructing new ones.
Mr Richard Ssekyondo, the chairperson of Division B in Entebbe Municipality, said they will sensitise residents on the dangers of settling in wetlands.
“What forces people to come back is that there is no clear resettlement plan. If government addresses that, it will be easier for us to convince residents to vacate,” he said.
Ms Gorreti Gwokyala, a resident of Lugonjo Village in Namiiro wetland, said she fears that her house will be submerged again.
“Our worry is that the water may rise again as a result of rainy season, but we pray to God because we don’t have money to rent houses in other areas during in this lockdown,” she said.
At some landing sites such as Lambu, Kachanga, Namirembe, and Kaziru in Masaka District, residents who returned to their houses, said they had no option.
“Our prayer is that the coming rainy season doesn’t become a problem to us,” Ms Beatrice Nakamya, a fish dealer at Lambu landing site, said.
Mr Gerald Lubeezi, a youth councillor of Bukakkata Sub-county, asked the government to fast-track their resettlement plan and ensure that all affected fishermen get permanent homes in areas not prone to flooding.
“We task government to take the resettlement plan seriously so that people can come to the landing sites to work and return to the mainland in the evening,” he said.
Ms Rose Nakyejjwe, the district environment officer, said residents of Lambu and Bukakkata landing sites encroached on the 200 metres which serve as buffer zones on the shoreline, with many settling just 50 metres away.
“We appeal to locals to be alert because any time water may rise again during rainy season or after,” she said.
A buffer zone is an area of land designated for environmental protection.
According to the National Environment Act, any person constructing a permanent structure in a 200-metre buffer zone needs clearance from Nema.
Background
Last year, the rise in the water levels of lakes Victoria, Kyoga and Albert wreaked havoc on many landing sites in Wakiso, Masaka Mpigi, Kyotera,Kalangala ,Mukono, Buikwe, Buvuma, Mayuge, Kayunga, Nakasongola and Ntoroko districts, displacing more than 40,000 people.
In some parts of Kasese District, floods displaced more than 100,000 people after major rivers in the area, including Nyamwamba, Mubuku, Nyamughasana and Lhubiriha burst their banks.
Environmentalists say this unpredictable flooding is as a result of climate change occasioned by global warming.
By Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa,Wilson Kutamba, Denis Edema &Slyvester Ssemugenyi
[email protected]
