National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has confirmed reports that an investor is dumping soil in River Katonga.
This is after a write up authored by Jude Mbabali, the Chairman of Masaka District made rounds on social media regarding the dumping of soil in River Katonga.
In a statement dated 29th September 2019,NEMA revealed that a Chinese company acquired 40 acres of land in Kayabwe, Mpigi district from one Mwebasa, and applied to use the land to develop ware housing units.
It added that a team of inspectors from NEMA visited the site and discovered that only 6 acres of the land was dry while the rest was not.
“NEMA issued a user permit and approval to the company restricting activities to only the 6 acres of dry land,” the environmental body said, adding: “Following an alert from a whistleblower, we inspected the premises and discovered that the developer was undertaking activities beyond the approved 6 acres of dry land. We issued an improvement notice to the developer, instructed them formally to remove the dumped soil and to stop all activities taking place outside the approved area.”
A team from NEMA has now visited the site and discovered that the warning and improvement notice was ignored, NEMA said, adding that the company has continued to pursue the use of more than 40 acres of land by encroaching on the wetland.
“Given the previous caution, we have now initiated a process to cause punitive actions against the company, including cancellation of the user permit, arrest of the owners, prosecution in courts of law and restoration of the degraded area at their cost,” NEMA said, commending Mbabali for being vigilant.
