Gerald Tenywa
4 July 2009
Kampala — Kampala is expanding without green spaces. Unplanned development, the lack of coordination among regulatory bodies and the casual attitude towards the trend is spelling doom for Uganda's capital.
HE refers to his house on Kololo Hill as 'a green paradise' because it is surrounded by many trees. Adam Mwesigwa is treated to the wonderful melodies of birds that perch on the trees every morning.
After the day's work in the evening, the noise of over speeding cars, the bustle and hassle of the city dies down as Mwesigwa retires to his sheltered residence. He also says his trees act as part of Kampala's 'lungs' since they absorb fumes from the nearby factories and release clean air to the city's residents.
Mwesigwa counts himself among the lucky few still enjoying what the City offers without losing the wilderness. His house is in a setting that is similar to Nakasero, Bugolobi and Bukoto, residential areas planned by the British colonial masters.
However, Kampala City Council (KCC) is worried about the mounting threat on the greenery. "We have come to a point where it is difficult to protect the city trees," says Simon Muhumuza, the Public Relations Officer at KCC.
He says d-evelopers have disregarded the regulations which stipulate that they have to contact KCC before cutting down trees.
The measure, Muhumuza explains, is seen by many as one that makes it harder to cut away the trees. So when, the developers start work at their respective holdings, the first thing they do is to clear all the trees without securing permission from the council, Muhumuza lamented.
Even when the residence of the Chief Justice on Nakasero Hill Road was being renovated early had already been done.
A huge 'Berlin Wall' is expected to replace the century-old trees.
A landscaping consultant and lecturer at Makerere University, Dr. Joseph Obua, says the people who cut trees forget that together with many others in the neighbourhood, they form an ecological system.
Outside Uganda, property with trees fetches higher premium or the owners demand more money in rent because residences with trees are different from ones without, according to Obua.
International organisations like UN Habitat point out that more trees and green belts should be established because cities in third world countries will accommodate more people than the countryside in the coming years. But instead of increasing the tree cover, Kampala residents seem to have opened 'war' on them.
Without trees, Stephen Okecho, a resident of Kiswa, says Kampala city is becoming so ugly. "If you look at a recently urbanised part of Kampala like Kireka hill, it is full of houses without trees."
Okecho blames the destruction of what the colonialists left to lack of planning.
Over 1,000 trees were three years ago destroyed by a group calling itself Nterenfune (get rich quick) at Bugolobi, where the Kiswa youth had planted them for recreation.
In addition to the planted trees were remnants of a forest reserve that used to cover the eastern part of the city from Kyambogo to Bugolobi. The forest reserve is no more and the trees that had been left as a sink for waste gases so that factories in industrial area do not pollute Bugolobi residences were cleared by Nterenfune.
Okecho says Bugolobi recreational ground was included in the 1994 Kampala city development plan, but the developers have disregarded it, taking over all empty spaces in the city. He says even tree nurseries for nurturing tree seedlings belonging to KCC have been parceled out to the developers.
KCC's nursery near Bugolobi sewerage works was leased to Multiplex, a company, which also deals in street parking in Kampala
Not long ago, Lugogo, a word meaning gutter, was freely draining away water from Kololo and Naguru into Nakivubo. This also served as a recreational ground with a green park. This is where youth from the nearby Naguru-Nakawa housing estate would hang out. It was also popular with parties and wedding receptions in Kampala.That aside, Lugogo was sheltered with trees forming a screen wall to trap waste gases and noise from the nearby industrial area so that they do not cause harm to residents in the neighbourhood.
But hell broke loose in the 1990s when Lugogo Green Park was turned into a show ground. This was followed by Lugogo shopping mall. Later, the green wall of the mango trees was felled in favour of a car warehouse and a petrol station.
For a city that does not have a botanical garden or a wildlife park, its trees, forest patches and swamps should have been guarded as treasures. But the developers do not seem to know their 'silent roles'.
Swathes of the expansive wetlands that formed a belt on part of the eastern, northern and western part of Kampala have been swallowed by the northern by-pass. This is an undertaking that had been planned for the upland.
In addition, the Government seems not to mind about the reclaiming patches of swamps that have been draining storm water from Jinja road at Kyambogo. Within a short time the area has been filled with concrete.
"I predict that the road will collapse because of increased flooding," says Dr. Festus Bagora, an official of the National Environment Management Authority. "Soon people will need canoes to cross from Kyambogo-Banda to Nakawa."
Bagora says the trees and wetlands are disappearing at a time when dirty industries are relocating closer to the ballooning city population. "To say the least, blind development and greed have cost the city a fortune. "What is the cost of cleaning air or contaminated water or dealing with floods?"
The destroyers get any slightest excuse and devour the trees. The excuse could be either that the trees harbour thieves or marabou storks or bats, which they refer to as vermin, not knowing that they are either pollinators of trees and crops or eat waste that KCC is unable to remove.
In some cases, KCC officials connive with people who want to burn bricks for building houses. They front reasons like trees growing wildly and threatening to get entangled in power-lines. Others simply cut trees to create prime space to erect billboards.
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