Francis Mugerwa
30 April 2007
Kibaale — Kagadi Town Council residents have petitioned the National Environmental Management Authority to halt the proposed construction of a garbage-dumping site in their area.
In an April 17 letter signed by 80 residents of Kitooto village and addressed to the Executive Director of Nema Henry Aryamanya-Mugisha the residents said, "We bring it to your attention that Kagadi town council has finalised plans to construct a landfill in a wetland."
They said the town council wants to construct a landfill in their area, against their will and consent. The residents further said the town council wants to construct the landfill in an environmental conservation area. "They want to degrade Kitooro wetland, which is illegal and unfortunate," they said.
The residents said a landfill would contaminate the water in the wetland, which they use for domestic and agricultural purposes. They said they warned the town council against implementing the project in vain. They said the landfill is not a priority for them.
"Our key interest is to have a healthy and clean environment which the town council wants to disrespect," they said. The residents claimed the town council has finalised surveying the wetland. "This serves to request your good office to halt the said project which is likely to contribute to environmental degradation," they said.
Efforts to contact Dr Mugisha for a comment were futile. Kagadi Town Council health inspector George Okurut confirmed the town council's intention to construct a landfill in Kitooro village, but said the town council will first conduct an environmental impact assessment before the project is implemented.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
