{"id":26467,"date":"2022-02-16T20:50:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T20:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=26467"},"modified":"2022-02-16T18:37:04","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T18:37:04","slug":"govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland","title":{"rendered":"Govt destroys 24 acres of rice in Lira wetland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>The government has destroyed more than 10 hectares (about 24.7 acres) of rice illegally planted in Okole wetland, Lira City, in a bid to restore the degraded ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The crop, which was almost ready for harvest, was slashed down during an operation to crackdown on illegal activities in the protected ecosystem last week.<\/p>\n

The operation was jointly conducted by the Environmental Protection Police Unit and officials from the Ministry of Water and Environment.<\/p>\n

READ: Rice farmers given 90 days to vacate wetlands<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr Mbarak Muhindo, the officer-in-charge of enforcement at the Ministry of Water and Environment, explained that they resorted to cutting down the rice to discourage other people from cultivating in the wetlands.<\/p>\n

He said enforcement is the last option since people have continued destroying wetlands with impunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn June last year, we had a community engagement where people who were cultivating in Okole wetland signed an agreement with us, clearly stating that after harvesting their rice by December, they would be out of the place,\u201d Mr Muhindo said.<\/p>\n

READ: Farmers stranded over ban on rice growing in wetlands<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cSurprisingly, when we made an inspection in mid-January this year, we found out that they are still continuing with the cultivation and that is when we mobilised ourselves, and we went on ground where we then cut down 10 hectares of the rice,\u201d Mr Muhindo further explained.<\/p>\n

The police said they found about 15 hectares of Okole wetland encroached on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe then arrested five people who were cultivating in the wetland though others took off. The ones we arrested were taken to Lira Central Police Station,\u201d Mr Muhindo added. Mr Leonard Otike, the Lira City environment officer, said they are also planting papyrus to restore the degraded wetlands in the area.<\/p>\n

READ: Butaleja farmers oppose govt ban on growing rice<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAs we were doing the operation and cutting down the rice, there was also a team of people to trans-plant papyrus in the areas, which were heavily degraded. So, we hope it (wetland) will regenerate and catch up with the other areas,\u201d he told this newspaper last Friday.<\/p>\n

He appealed to the public to conserve the wetlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a known fact that degrading the wetland system and deforestation are things that destroy our environment and when our environment is compromised, people suffer in terms of extreme weather,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The effects of extreme weather include floods, landslides, drought and wildfires.<\/p>\n

Mr James Ogwang from Railways Quarters Cell in Lira City East Division is one of the affected farmers.<\/p>\n

READ: Teso loses swamps to rice farming<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that the poor people who cultivate rice are the ones targeted yet rich people are allowed to construct big buildings in the wetlands,\u201d he said. President Museveni recently warned Ugandans against encroaching on wetlands, saying the government will cancel their titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will lose your money and we shall not compensate anyone. Your titles will be cancelled. Tampering with wetlands is not a good practice for our environment,\u201d he said in a tweet on February 7, 2022.<\/p>\n

The President also warned farmers against planting rice in the wetlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would rather do fish farming, which brings the same amount of money while saving the swamps and using the swamp grass for mulching your gardens,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Govt aids rice farmers expelled from wetlands<\/b><\/p>\n

[email protected]<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. The government has destroyed more than 10 hectares (about 24.7 acres) of rice illegally planted in Okole wetland, Lira City, in a bid to restore the degraded ecosystem. The crop, which was almost ready for harvest, was slashed down during an operation to crackdown on illegal activities in the protected ecosystem last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":26466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-26467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nGovt destroys 24 acres of rice in Lira wetland - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The government has destroyed more than 10 hectares (about 24.7 acres) of rice illegally planted in Okole wetland, Lira C ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Govt destroys 24 acres of rice in Lira wetland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The government has destroyed more than 10 hectares (about 24.7 acres) of rice illegally planted in Okole wetland, Lira C ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-16T20:50:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/02\/img-620d44328fdc7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Govt destroys 24 acres of rice in Lira wetland\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-16T20:50:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland\"},\"wordCount\":569,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/02\/img-620d44328fdc7.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/govt-destroys-24-acres-of-rice-in-lira-wetland\",\"name\":\"Govt destroys 24 acres of rice in Lira wetland - 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