{"id":54347,"date":"2023-08-17T21:37:47","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T21:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors"},"modified":"2023-08-17T23:37:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T23:37:20","slug":"museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors","title":{"rendered":"Museveni orders swamps drained of fishy investors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>President Museveni has ordered the cancellation of land titles given to investors to develop factories in wetlands located in gazetted industrial parks.<\/p>\n

In a July 23 letter, Museveni also references an earlier decision that all factories in wetlands will be demolished.<\/p>\n

\u201c…regarding land in the wetlands that had been allocated to investors for factories but the factories had not been built yet. Those factories should not be built there. They should be given alternative land. The leases should be cancelled,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n

It adds: \u201cEven for the factories that were already built, did we not say that in the future those leases should not be renewed?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senior Presidential Press Secretary, Mr Sandor Walusimbi, yesterday confirmed the letter and reiterated Mr Museveni\u2019s long standing position<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President has always been consistent that wetlands are water reservoirs which must be conserved in order to have reliable rainfalls to facilitate human and industrial development and irrigation schemes to boost agriculture,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

The minister for Water and Environment, Mr Sam Cheptoris, who yesterday welcomed the President\u2019s position, said he sought his guidance following a stalemate with the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), the statutory body in-charge of industrial parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been pulling ropes with the UIA. We insisted that any wetland, whether in gazetted industrial parks, must be protected. The UIA, on the other hand, were of the opinion that all land in gazetted industrial parks, including wetlands, must not be excluded from construction,\u201d he told this publication.<\/p>\n

He added : \u201c…wetlands, including those in gazetted industrial parks, must be protected… In fact, he [Museveni] directed UIA to get alternative land for investors who had been allocated land in wetlands.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2007, the government, through the UIA, embarked on a drive to establish industrial parks, where investors would establish factories and industries. The move aims to drive up the country\u2019s industrialisation agenda, ramp up value addition and create much needed employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the Cabinet approved the construction of 25 industrial parks in all sub- regions in the country. The UIA was tasked with identifying 500 acres of land in the host districts for each park.<\/p>\n

Ms Evelyne Anite, the State minister for Finance in-charge of Investment, in a Tuesday interview, said they had secured the required land and commenced development of necessary infrastructure.<\/p>\n

In the planning, according to Ms Anite, each park would house at least 500 factories, which would translate to an acre per factory.<\/p>\n

Mr Morrison Rwakakamba, the chairman of UIA Board, said all the land secured will not be affected by Mr Museveni\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already implementing a green and sustainable industrial development policy as guided by President Museveni. We recently secured more than 12 square miles of industrial land across the country that are not in wetlands or any ecologically sensitive places,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On the issue of already established factories, he said: \u201cWe are also continuing to engage developed industry owners to continue deepening green and environmentally sustainable practices across chain of their operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country has witnessed a rapid decline in its wetland coverage. Last year, the National Environment Management Authority reported a reduction from 15.6 percent in 1994 to 8.9 percent in 2017 at a rate of 2.5 percent per year, predisposing the country to flooding.<\/p>\n

They further warned that \u201cunless radical measures are instituted immediately to restore the integrity of Uganda\u2019s wetlands, coverage may reduce to 1.6 percent by 2040\u201d.<\/p>\n

The July guidance is the latest by Mr Museveni, adding to a multiple others, all in an attempt to curb encroachment and degradation of the environment.<\/p>\n

In June 2022 during the Budget speech, President Museveni said there should be no negotiations with encroachers who have deliberately invaded wetlands and settled there.<\/p>\n

He ordered all encroachers out of wetlands across the country with immediate effect. In the same year, Mr Museveni ordered a total ban on rice growing in wetlands.<\/p>\n

In his 2019 end of year speech, the President warned against environmental degradation, which he said caused landslides that killed people in the Elgon and Rwenzori sub-regions.<\/p>\n

He accused police and leaders of being complicit in the degradation through corruption and laxity.<\/p>\n

In 2017, he gave wetland encroachers in the country one month to leave or be forced out by the police.<\/p>\n

In 2014, he ordered the Solicitor General to take action against wetland encroachment<\/p>\n

There is concern, however, that the orders are doing very little in combating encroachment, as many wetlands have been lost<\/p>\n

\u201cPresidential orders without enforcement against wetlands degraders are useless. What we need is presidential action that translates into arrest, detention, prosecution, convictions and heavy fines against all culprits of wetlands encroachment,\u201d Lawyer and environmentalist Eron Kiiza said yesterday.<\/p>\n

Cabinet approval<\/p>\n

In 2021, Cabinet approved the cancellation of at least 420 land titles that were issued in wetlands and central reserve forests. Government officials, who were involved in the issuance of said titles, were to be held culpable.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Uganda. President Museveni has ordered the cancellation of land titles given to investors to develop factories in wetlands located in gazetted industrial parks. In a July 23 letter, Museveni also references an earlier decision that all factories in wetlands will be demolished. \u201c…regarding land in the wetlands that had been allocated to investors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":54346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12,258],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-54347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nMuseveni orders swamps drained of fishy investors - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Museveni has ordered the cancellation of land titles given to investors to develop factories in wetlands locat ...\" \/>\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\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Museveni orders swamps drained of fishy investors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Museveni has ordered the cancellation of land titles given to investors to develop factories in wetlands locat ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors\" \/>\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=\"2023-08-17T21:37:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-17T23:37:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/08\/sm_1692298873.404449.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=\"4 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\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Museveni orders swamps drained of fishy investors\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-17T21:37:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-17T23:37:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors\"},\"wordCount\":824,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/08\/sm_1692298873.404449.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/museveni-orders-swamps-drained-of-fishy-investors\",\"name\":\"Museveni orders swamps drained of fishy investors - 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