The Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) has instructed the National Environmental Management Authority to cease with immediate effort the issuance of Operational certificates in Wetlands.
Sate Minister for Environment Beatrice Anywar blamed officials in the environmental body for the destruction of wetlands by illegally allowing encroachers to establish projects in the protected lands.
As Government intensifies the fight against environmental degradation, Beatrice Anywar the State Minister for Environment has ordered the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to stop issuance of certificates of operations in Wetlands and forests.
Beatrice Anywar said, they will evict all those occupying protected areas;
“We have directed that there is no more issuance of certificates of objection in the wetlands, no more factories douls mashroom from the wetlands. My take is that all those who are in the wetlands, forests and lakes and water catchment areas illegally are going to be evicted.”
Anywar believes a special court to prosecute environmental degradation cases should be set up – after failure to get justice in the traditional courts of law.
“by the time the court gets to hear our case the trees will be finished, that is the challenge we have had. so, we want a spoecialised court that will quicken/fast-track all these cases as they come.”
Environmental protection is faced with poor enforcement by security agencies. To improve this, government has handed over 10 motorbikes to the environmental police Unit.
Anywar cautioned the police officers to wake up to the challenge of safeguarding the environment.
We are conculing titles and once we call you to enforce, this dilly darling must stop and we shall not tolerate it. No more of those ones. when order comes that we are going to enforce an eviction, you must adhere.”
Last week, Cabinet ordered that encorachers in rural wetlands will be mobilized and re-organized to engage into alternative sustainable wetlands utilization models. It also banned the growing of rice and other crops in wetlands, a practice common in Eastern Uganda.
