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Uganda: Quarry Operators Attack NEMA
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New Vision (Kampala)
29 July 2008
Posted to the web 30 July 2008
Joel Ogwang
Kampala
QUARRY operators have asked the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to involve them in licensing new firms.
The operators also accused some consultancy firms of being bribed by the new companies to make inaccurate environmental impact assessment reports.
As a result, the operators noted, some quarries are located closer than the recommended 500m from human settlements.
The head of the Uganda Quarry Operators Association, George Kyaligonza, said NEMA was not "doing enough" to ensure that excavation firms complied with the laws.
"In most cases, we only get to know that rocks have been bought and sold when newly-licensed firms apply for our membership," he said.
During a meeting at Mukono district boardroom recently, Kyaligonza, who is also the Bunyoro Kingdom oil minister, said there were 60 licensed quarries, 26 of them located in Mukono.
The meeting was held after residents of Buntaba village in Kyampisi sub-county, which has six quarries protested against the firms, accusing them of using obsolete excavation technology.
They say vibrations from the quarries have cracked their houses, stopped their animals from mating and the dust contaminates their water, putting them at the risk of catching cancer.
Ismail Kayima, a Senior Two student of Kyabakadde SSS, also lost a leg recently when a rock smashed it, prompting Mulago Hospital to amputate it.
Mukono LC5 chief Francis Lukooya suspended the quarries over failing to conduct their annual environmental audits.
"We are not against any quarry. We are against actions that degrade the environment and human health," Lukooya said.
Onesmus Muhwezi, NEMA's director of environmental monitoring and compliance, noted that some quarries were breaking the law.
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"The issue of "flying" stones and dust is a breach of our agreement with quarries. We are going to get tough on them."
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