Gerald Tenywa
16 January 2008
Kampala — CREST Foam factory has reclaimed part of a wetland in a gorge at a flood-prone area on Ntinda Road in Kampala, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has said.
"We have seen the development around Crest Foam and it is disappointing," said Joseph Lubega, a specialist at NEMA. "It was supposed to be left intact to drain water."
The company, which produces mattresses, has already fenced the plot.
Efforts to get a comment from the general manager were futile.
When The New Vision visited the area on Monday, heaps of murram were being compacted by a grader under the watchful eye of private security guards.
The area was once a wetland separating Ntinda from Naguru, but it has been massively reclaimed in the last decade.
"There is a scramble for land because many people want to stay in high-income residential areas," said Lubega.
"The only remaining patches of land are wetlands, which are under pressure."
According to NEMA, over 10 houses in the area are in danger of flooding because of on the wetland.
Earlier, NEMA had ordered some of the encroachers to demolish their houses, but only one complied.
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