National Forestry Authority Clashes with KCCA over Buto Buvuma Central Forest Reserve after Detection of a New Possible Landfill Site.
The National Forestry Authority while pushing for conservation agenda, has issued a warning to Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) in addition to informing the public on the creation of illegal land tittles around the central forest reserves and the likely implications of the magnitude regarding their actions. Suggesting to demarked all its forest reserves with concrete visible pillars, digitize all the boundaries and put them in the land management information system through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development as a sustainable solution to protecting forest reserves.
Recently the NFA has engaged in discussions that compromise its efforts to deliver on its mandate mainly surrounding on the creation of illegal land titles on central forest reserves, the recent one being on the 27th December.
Monday, during a press engagement at NFA headquarters in Kampala, the Acting Executive Director, Mr. Stuart Maniraguha mentioned that financial institutions are also highly cautioned against giving out money to individuals that present such land tittles to acquire loans from Banks.
He, however, highlighted on the Kiteezi tragedy that claimed lives of 30 people and the need for alternative land solutions from the government in terms of addressing the garbage and finding an alternative to the land fill.
KCCA advertised calling for Ugandans who have land in the radius of 30km around Kiteezi to participate in bidding and be able to offer their land for land fill. Given the fact that most of the land that falls in the perimeters was within the central forest reserves, NFA alerted KCCA to go slow on the matter because tittles were seen evolving in the other forest reserves like in Mpigi along mityana high way Buto Buvuma in Buyala, along Kayunga road in Kifu and others, noted Mr. Maniraguha.
“I was able to alert KCCA in writing regarding the applications received indicating not to approve some of those applications. We agreed with the then acting ED KCCA, Mr. Frank Rusa to do things differently and avoid putting government forest reserves at risk. Later following the meeting, KCCA declined an application of some individual who was donating 20 hectares of land to the president for land fill, something that NFA was happy about.”
He also added how he wrote to KCCA on the 23rd regarding allegations that KCCA and Lord Mayor acquired land in Buyala, requesting them to involve NFA’s participation in the process to avoid including the forest reserve land before signing any documents regarding the transactions. “At the time of the press conference, the acting Executive Director NFA had already received reports that trees are being fallen down in Buyala forest.”
The Buyala forest is a gazetted forest of 1096 hectares to conserve the Mayanja wetland that protects river Mayanja which drains into Lake Victoria, but with current pressures from people trying to destroy it, NFA took measures of working with individuals and companies by allocating 30 people and given tree farming licences operating on 40% of that land and the 60% remains as a conservation area for river Mayanja, he emphasized
Mr. Maniraguha, reminded people given tree farming licences that they have no interest on the land and there can never be a transfer of neither land or trees without the sanctioning of NFA and investigations are ongoing to ensure no tree farmer is involved because their licences shall be revoked and prosecuted immediately.
