Eight arrested over wetland degradation in Kumi
KUMI-Authorities in Kumi district have arrested eight people over continued encroachment on Oladoto Wetland.
During an operation on Friday, the district security team discovered that the suspects had established gardens in the wetland in total disregard of earlier warnings issued by President Museveni and National Environmental Management Authority [NEMA].
Ahmed Washaki, the Kumi resident district commissioner, who led the security operation said the suspects were arrested for violating Section 36 of the National Environment Act.
“A number of wetlands in this district have been destroyed, but this time we are more focused on major wetlands. “It is everyone’s responsibility to protect the wetlands because climate change affects everyone,” Washaki said.
He said the country is facing harsh climate conditions.
He said Oladoto Wetland is the most affected in the area.
“We managed to arrest some of those we found cultivating and we are not going to relent, until full restoration. Say no to wetlands depletion, ”he said.
Wetland degradation has devastated the potential of storing water and filtering pollutants. This has caused natural calamities such as floods, pollution of water sources.
Section 36 of the National Environment Act provides for the protection of wetlands and prohibits the reclamation, and erection of illegal structures, and empowers authorities to demolish any structure that is fixed in, on, under, or above any wetland.
The Act also empowers districts to manage wetlands within their jurisdictions and ensure that their boundaries are clearly demarcated so that even as water levels and wetland vegetation recede, the communities are clear on where the boundaries lie.
Although Uganda has tried to score in the restoration of particular wildlife that had become extinct, efforts to restore some of the most depleted natural resources including forests, and water catchment areas among other natural resources have remained slow.
https://thecooperator.news/kwania-wetland-encroachers-given-five-weeks-to-vacate/
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