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Uganda: Double Efforts to Save Lake Victoria
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New Vision (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
30 April 2008
Posted to the web 1 May 2008
Kampala
THE green algae, which is spreading to wider parts of Lake Victoria is a source of concern.
Algae are microscopic plants that occur naturally in water. Ordinarily, these are not a nuisance, but pollution causes them to turn into green-like paint and start smelling. This is when they become a nuisance.
The spreading green substance is a symptom of the environmental problems that have been taking place in the catchment of Lake Victoria. There are three reasons that explain the origin of the green substance.
Firstly, the management of solid waste remains pathetic. People imagine that when waste is out of their sight it is fine. But the waste is washed into the lake where it decomposes and provides nutrients that encourage the growth of algae.
Secondly, forests and wetlands that act as a shield for the lake against pollution have been degraded. The wetlands like Nakivubo, Kinawataka and Kansanga have been invaded by people who have established settlements.
Thirdly, untreated effluent from the increasing number of industries in Kampala is being released into the lake.
NEMA has made a belated campaign to save the wetlands, but this has encountered stiff resistance from a few people who have settled in the swamps. Such people should be evicted from the wetlands without fear or favour because they are exposing Lake Victoria, a source of drinking water for two million people, to contamination.
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Three years ago, NEMA demolished a house belonging to Godfrey Nyakaana, the LC3 chairperson of Kampala Central, who had built illegally in the wetland. But the same aggressiveness was not used to deal with the other encroachers on the wetland.
Consequently, encroachment has become rampant affecting all the critical wetlands.
There is no better time to restore the wetlands and lakeshore forests than now. The enforcement arms of the Government should double their efforts because 'prevention is better than cure.'
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