Africa-Press – Uganda. Leaders in Mpigi District have suspended 12 sand mining firms operating in Lwera wetland, saying that their activities were not certified by the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
Of the 15 mining firms operating in part of Lwera that is under Mpigi District jurisdiction, only three companies, including HK Sand Mining Company Ltd, Kamaliba Community Association and Grapes Company Ltd, have valid permits approved by Nema, according to Mr Martin Ssejjemba, the district chairperson.
Lwera swamp, which stretches 20kms is shared by the districts of Mpigi and Kalungu, with the latter taking the biggest share.
But due to its strategic location on the Kampala –Masaka highway, the vast swamp has in the past two decades attracted many investment companies and individuals who are engaging in sand mining, fish farming and rice growing.
“These firms, which were not cleared by Nema and are not known by the district, are the ones that dig deep pits and leave them open, which endangers Lake Victoria, and also causes flooding in Lwera. This impunity has to stop and we have ordered the non-compliant firms to stop their activities forthwith,” he said after touring Lwera on Wednesday.
Many of the sand mining companies are using dredgers to scoop tonnes of sand from the swamp.
Mr Ssejjemba said they had established that the non-compliant firms have licences to engage in controlled commercial fishing and farming but wondered how they ended up in sand mining.
“What they (illegal sand mining firms) are doing is illegal. If the government allowed them to carry out fishing farming, they should stick to that and pay revenue to the district as stipulated,” he added. Mr Johnson Kwesiga, a manager of one of the illegal sand mining firms, confirmed that his company is operating illegally but was in the process of getting clearance from Nema.
“We already started on that process [of acquiring a permit] and we are hopeful that Nema will give us a green light soon,” he said.
However, Nema last year announced that it had indefinitely suspended the receipting, processing and issuance of Environmental Impact Assessment certificates and permits in wetlands. According to the Nema executive director, Dr Akankwasa Barirega, the suspension is intended to reduce pressure on wetlands.
Ms Aisha Nakirijja, the district vice chairperson, said they are also in advanced stages of removing all encroachers on wetlands and forests in line with the recent presidential directive of restoring depleted natural resources.
“We want to make it clear to all encroachers that we are also coming; other districts have already started and there’s no compensation,” she said.
Background
The excessive human activities in Lwera have hindered the flow of water, thus affecting the Kampala-Masaka highway, which regularly cracks, thus, affecting traffic flow.
A report by Parliament’s Natural Resources committee of 2016 revealed that the miners had affected fish stocks within Lake Victoria since Lwera wetland acted as a breeding area. It recommended banning sand mining, but nothing has been done to date.
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