City leaders, MP clash over Barifa forest
One of the elders of Arua City speaks during a weekend meeting against the giveaway of Barifa Forest for construction of a recreational facility. PHOTO/CLEMENT ALUMA.
What you need to know:
- The weekend meeting ended chaotically as the MP was whisked away by the security team deployed at the venue.
A section of environmentalists and residents in Arua have clashed with the Maracha County Member of Parliament (MP) Lee Oguzu who was licensed to construct a recreational facility as part of eco-tourism promotion inside Barifa Central Forest Reserve in the city.
The plans to construct the eco-tourism failed on several times after the city Council refused to approve the building plans saying “there are ongoing plans to degazette the forest for an intended satellite city.”
However, residents contend that the plan is meant to grab part of the traditional forest where huge chunks of trees will be cleared.
Arua City Mayor Sam Wadri Nyakua said they have no problem with the developer but rather the National Forestry Authority (NFA) which has failed to degazatte Barifa and instead gave part of it to a developer.
In a heated weekend meeting chaired by the National Building Review Board (NBRB) executive secretary, Eng Flavia Bwire, questions were raised over why Arua City authorities failed to back the legislator’s plan for eco-tourism protection and promotion.
But NBRB engineer Jennifer Choma observed that the planned development in the forest would turn out noisy and not in tandem with what should be in place.
“You can put something in the forest but that does not mean destroying what is already there. Eco-tourism means you should move quietly, while tiptoeing with the environment,” she advised.
The MP had appealed to the NBRB to intervene in an impasse involving him and the city building review board which deferred his plans.
The weekend meeting ended chaotically as the MP was whisked away by the security team deployed at the venue.
Background
Legislator Oguzu applied to the National Forestry Authority (NFA) in 2017 after it advertised intention to turn the place into a recreational to “preserve and conserve the ecological value of the forest and render some benefits to the community.”
The MP was then supposed to present his plan to the National Environment Authority (NEMA) to ensure that the project does not have a negative environmental footprint- and then to the physical planning authority and the local building authority to obtain a building permit.
Speaking to Monitor during the weekend, MP Oguzu said: “There has been a lot of misrepresentation and misinformation for example they have been saying that the license we got is for 40 acres yet is for 10 hectares.”
He added: “The truth is that NFA has given us a license which was obtained through a competitive bidding process and cleared by the attorney general.”
Instead, the NBRB executive secretary Eng Bwire advised Mr Oguzu to work together with authorities to mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
Mr Oguzu is seeking to build a 5-star hotel, an Olympic size swimming pool, a museum and other amenities like parks viewed to create jobs for especially the youth.
