MPs want stone quarrying in Bulambuli halted

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | Members of Parliament on the committee of Environment and Natural Resources want stone quarrying in Bulambuli district halted.

The MPs on Thursday visited Bulambuli district on a fact-finding mission following the on-going floods in the district.

For the last four years, the lower belt of Bulambuli district has been affected by floods which have left homes and gardens submerged.

Residents argue that some of the water flows from the stone quarrying sites belonging to Kampala and Tororo cement factories and ditches that were left open after the excavation of murrum.

Some of the ditches that were used as far as 1998 have now turned into man-made lakes covering over 10 acres of land. Residents note that these have made the soils soft making the area susceptible to flooding more especially when it rains.

The most affected areas are Buwakoli, Bunambutye, Buwekanda, Bumasokho, Buwakooli, Bunandutu, Bumwalye and Masatsa parishes and the surrounding areas.

Kefa Kiwanuka, the chairperson of the committee and Kiboga Member of Parliament said the companies should halt their activities until a proper impact assessment is done and the affected people compensated.

Kiwanuka noted that National Environment Management Authority-NEMA and the Ministry of Energy had promised to solve the matter, in vain.

Bulambuli County Member of Parliament Alex Bulundo says that the water that flows from the mountains has affected the roads and hampered settlement in the area.

Sara Wekomba, the Bulambuli District Woman Member of Parliament blamed the communities for refusing the water channels to pass through their land in demand for compensation.

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