The Minister of Water and Environment, Sam Cheptoris (pictured) has accepted blame for failing to stop the illegal encroachment of Bugoma Central Forest Reserve.
This was during a meeting of the Natural Resources Committee of Parliament with Ministry officials and Agencies under the Water and Environment sector on Wednesday.
The meeting had been called to discuss the sectors performance in the 2020/2021 financial year and sector challenges.
The encroachment of Bugoma Forest has dominated the headlines both locally and internationally following the leasing of part of the forest last year to Hoima Sugar by the Bunyoro Kingdom Administration.
Environmental activists have condemned the land giveaway and The National Forestry Authority (NFA) took the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom and Hoima Sugar to court to oppose the leases.
MPs derided the ministry for failing in its mandate to protect the forest reserve and noted that government had left the fight to foreigners including European Union Ambassadors who had petitioned parliament and the President to intervene and save the forest.
The minister told MPs on the committee that the ministry had done everything in its power to save the forest and had even deployed police to halt the destruction of the forest but court ordered the police to vacate the land. He also says he told NEMA to halt the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for over a year until Hoima Sugar threatened legal action.
The minister also stated that the legal suit against Hoima Sugar by government was defeated when an official from the lands ministry testified stating that the land that had been leased did not form part of the forest reserve.
However Tom Okello the Executive Director National Forestry Authority made a damning revelation when he told MPs that aerial images show that Hoima Sugar has encroached on parts of the forest outside the permitted zones as stipulated in the Environmental Impact Assessment Certificate.
The Rwampara County MP Charles Ngabirano chided the ministry for ignoring the fact that the EIA was being flouted.
The Buliisa woman MP Norah Bigirwa also called for the ministry to take action and halt destruction of the forest, she wondered whether the minister was in charge of the sector.
The minister conceded that the ministry had failed to enforce the EIA and noted that NEMA should have taken action.
