MPs Moot Law To Punish Officers Issuing Permits In Wetlands.
By Adiga Julius
Legislators on the Parliament’s Committee on Climate change are in the process of drafting a law that will particularly punish government officers that directly issue operation permits in wetlands.
The lawmakers are concerned and heavily dismayed by what they termed as ‘persistent inaction’ from government officials meant to insulate the environment from human activities that degrade it.
With specific concern projected on the investors that are granted permission to operate in wetlands, the MPs reason that such efforts frustrate efforts by colleagues and other environment enthusiasts of clean energy as well as commendable environmental practices. Legislators claim that the current laws shield technocrats who facilitate acquisition of wetlands.
Lawmakers are concerned that if the country continues with the current rate at which the environment and forests are degraded, Uganda is faced a black future that is regrettable.
Earlier this week, the Minister for Finance revealed that the government would allow investors to operate in wetlands, something that has since triggered an uproar within a section of the public. Now lawmakers want the requisite Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) concerned with climate change actions and protection of the environment to publish comprehensive lists of persons granted permission to operate or establish businesses or settlements in wetlands and swamps.
Similarly, the chairperson of the Committee on Climate Mr. Songa Lawrence Biyika demanded that the government extends and crafts a comprehensive and all-inclusive approach to be popularized at the grassroots level to preserve the environment.
