Sand miners in Katabi operate illegally - Nema
An excavator extracts sand at Kayirira Wetland in Katabi Town Council on Monday last week. PHOTO BY EVE MUGANGA
Majority of sand miners in Katabi Town Council, Entebbe Municipality, are operating illegally, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has revealed.
Mr Tony Achidria, the senior public relations officer at Nema, said many sand miners in the area acquired licences between 2009 and 2010 before the new national sand mining guidelines were approved.
He said before issuing permits to sand mining firms, owners have to demonstrate ability to mitigate any adverse impacts, including restoring the degraded wetlands, putting in place a sand deposition yard for draining the sand before loading it onto trucks, and ensuring there is no sale of wet sand.
“There are so many illegal sand mining sites in Katabi Town Council and it is unlikely that we have recently issued any certificates or licences,” he said in an email to this newspaper on Wednesday
Mr Achidria was responding to questions regarding a crackdown on sand miners operating in Kayirira Wetlands on the shores of Lake Victoria.
The miners were stopped by Entebbe deputy Resident District Commissioner Noor Njuki last week.
“I had to stop sand miners who were operating in Kayirira wetland on the shores of Lake Victoria because they were using dredgers to scoop sand from the lake yet they had no clearance from Nema and Katabi Town Council. I can reverse my decision only if it is a presidential directive,’’ he said.
“I have already written letters asking them to remove dredgers from the shores of the lake,’’ Mr Njuki added.
Mr Achidria applauded the RDC for halting the illegal activities, saying a team from Nema will soon inspect the site and assess the extent of the damage.
“If there are still others secretly carrying out illegal sand mining in the same location, we are going to work with the police to arrest and take them to court,” he said.
Mr Paul Ssendege, one of the leaders of sand miners at Kayirira Wetland, accused Mr Njuki of playing double standards, wondering why other sand miners in Katabi Town Council continue to operate yet their licences also expired.
“It seems the RDC wants us to vacate the area and let others to occupy our site,” he said. He said they have been paying revenue of Shs3,000 per trip to Katabi Town Council.
Mr Ssendege said Kayirira sand mining site employs more than 2,000 people.
Katabi Town Council Mayor Ronald Kalema said the activities had led to destruction of the protected buffer zones.
