Speaker urges Ugandans to protect environment
KAMPALA, February 27, 2025 — The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among has called on Ugandans to conserve the environment in their communities.
The Speaker made the call while chairing the House on Wednesday where she stated that the country is experiencing unusually high temperatures.
“This is a reminder that climate change is real and unless we take deliberate mitigation measures, we remain at risk,” she said.
She implored Members of Parliament [MPs] to invest time and effort in environmental conservation, afforestation, responsible waste disposal, industrial monitoring and surveillance to curb outdoor air pollution.
Members of Parliament supported the call with many of them attributing the heatwave to depletion of forest cover.
The Minister of State for Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, David Bahati, informed the House that he had been directed by the President to commence the process of compensating people who will vacate the wetlands in Kigezi, Busoga, and other regions to protect the environment.
The Ora County MP, Lawrence Biyika said that the heatwave has led to several casualties and attributed the effects of climate change to negative human activities and emphasised the need to address challenges in the environmental sector.
The Minister for Water and Environment, Beatrice Anywar decried the lack of sufficient resources to facilitate climate change interventions.
She expressed frustration over competing budgetary priorities and beseeched the House to consider allocating more funds to the ministry. “The interventions are slow-paced, but it is not deliberate. We work within the available budget”, she said.
She apprised the House, saying that the Water ministry had issued a statement warning the country about the impending calamities.
The Kole North MP, Samuel Acuti disclosed that Northern Uganda is facing extreme effects of the heatwave which he attributed to rampant charcoal burning in the area.
“There is a need to come up with strong regulations on the charcoal trade in the country. And even with afforestation, we should mind the kind of trees we are planting. You cannot cut down mahogany and plant pine trees,” he said.
The Leader of the Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi called on government to come up with a comprehensive response to climate change.
https://thecooperator.news/govt-committed-to-enhancing-public-healthcare-says-among/
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