By Spy Uganda
To kick it off from its genesis, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) issued Hoima Sugar Ltd an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) certificate No. NEMA/ESIA/13709 on 14th August 2020 to implement various projects at Kikube mixed land in Hoima district.
Section 4 of the Certificate indicated specific conditions and components of the project as follows:
(a) Sugarcane Plantation (9.24 sq. miles / 2,393.8483 ha);
(b) Urban Centre (1.206 sq. miles / 312.3 ha);
(c) Eco-tourism Centre (1.97 sq. miles / 510.2277 ha);
(d) Cultural Site (0.156 sq. miles / 40.4038 ha);
(e) The natural reserved forest and nature walkways/trails (6.17 sq. miles/1,598.023 ha).
After the above, Hoima Sugar Limited was tasked to submit an environmental and social audit report for the project in June 2022. NEMA however says investigations including ground inspections in September 2022 revealed that there was deforestation of the natural reserved forest areas contrary to approval condition 4.3 (i)(c).
”As a result of this, the area of natural forests that was supposed to be protected has been affected severely degraded and there was deforestation of the eco-tourism site contrary to approval condition 4.3 (i)(c) which has affected the quality of the site for eco-tourism purposes,” says NEMA in a statement.
The Authority adds, ”The above findings amount to a breach of conditions of approval of NEMA certificate issued to the company contrary to section 157(f) of the National Environment Act, 2019.”
PRESS STATEMENT ⚡️⚡️
NEMA orders Hoima Sugar LTD to restore degraded parts of Kikuube mixed land-use project area and cancels approval for urban centre development in the ecosystemDetails > https://t.co/xtCybiWqcj#NEMAWorks pic.twitter.com/3JEdw97g1P
— National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) (@nemaug) September 27, 2022
Based on section 129 of the National Environment Act, 2019, the Authority has issued the following Orders to the company in order to safeguard the environment and avoid any further damage to the environment: –
1. Immediately stop any further deforestation of the natural reserved forest area, eco-tourism area, cultural sites and land reserved for the urban center.
2.No sugar cane should be planted in the natural reserved forest area, ecotourism area, cultural sites area and land reserved for the urban center. The sugar cane MUST be restricted to the area permitted in the certificate.
3. The 312.3ha earlier approved for the urban centre is halted to be kept as a natural forest in view of the country’s efforts to recover forest cover loss.
4. Restore all degraded areas of the natural reserved forest area, ecotourism area, cultural sites and land reserved for the urban center.
5. Prepare a restoration plan for the degraded areas in consultation with the Forestry Sector Support Department of the Ministry of Water and Environment (FSSD), National Forestry Authority (NFA) and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and submit the same to this Authority for approval within a period of not more than three months from the date of this order.
6. Implement the Restoration Plan in 4 above at your cost with guidance from FSSD, NFA and UWA to the satisfaction of this Authority.
7. Permit third parties approved by this Authority who may wish to participate in the restoration process of the degraded areas as appropriate.
The Authority says failure to comply with the given instructions will result in NEMA cancelling the ESIA certificate and further legal actions against Hoima Sugar Limited.
”We strongly urge developers to abide by conditions of approval in Environment and Social Impact Certificates. NEMA will not relent on efforts to ensure that development projects are undertaken in a sustainable manner and that the environment is not compromised,” says NEMA.
