By Johannah Nantongo
KAMPALA. National Environment Management Authority (Nema), in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Environment, has intensified efforts to curb illegal sand mining in the Lwera Wetland through a joint enforcement operation targeting four sites along the Kampala–Masaka Road.
The operation was conducted with support from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), the Environmental Protection Police Unit (EPPU), the Environmental Protection Force (EPF) and the Kalungu District Local Government.
At Jamarsco Group of Companies in Ntizi Village, Mpigi District, the enforcement team established that the company was operating with an expired Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) certificate. Three Sino trucks and one wheel loader were impounded.
In Muge Village, Mpigi District, authorities demobilised 30 canoes that had been used by artisanal miners to conduct illegal sand mining activities within the wetland.
At Fuso–Sino International Co. Ltd in Kalungu District, the enforcement team found that workers had vacated the site before the operation after an apparent tip-off. Inspectors recovered two wheel loaders concealed in nearby bushes and found a dredger at the site. Investigations into the matter are ongoing.
Meanwhile, in Kamaliba Village, Mpigi District, Mr. Nseroko Adams was summoned by NEMA to verify the nature of fish farming activities being undertaken at the site as part of ongoing environmental compliance assessments.
The operation forms part of ongoing government efforts to enforce environmental laws, safeguard Uganda’s wetlands and ensure compliance with regulations governing sand mining and other activities that threaten fragile ecosystems.