The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Hon. Matia Kasaija has clarified that foreign investors who had set up factories in wetlands will be allowed to operate indefinitely.
Kasaija made these remarks on Wednesday, while unveiling the International University of East Africa as the confirmed venue for the upcoming East African Food Security Symposium and Expo slated, for October from 14th to 16th.
Reports that these investors could have been misled informed this swift decision, according to Kasaija. However, observers point to the need to maintain a powerful source of revenue vital for Uganda’s economic survival as a reason for such a decision.
The minister did not clarify on a specific timeframe when these investors will be operating, up to when they will also be ordered to leave.
“If those investors were misled, they will be tolerated because they were not told from the word go, but those locals who went there in wetlands having been warned are the ones we are targeting,” Minister Kasaija said in a statement.
This sparked mixed reactions and allegations of double standard attitude because the state had ordered all its citizens to vacate wetlands and forest reserves rendering them homeless, while foreigners were allowed to stay, yet their factories are the major sources of pollution.
Uganda’s Finance Minister maintained that investors who had set up factories in catchment areas could have been tricked, making them unaware that such actions were tantamount to disregarding the law.
He explained that the move by the government against wetland and forests encroachers is intended to shield major natural resources like water bodies from pollution, including Lake Victoria and others.
“The government’s move against wetlands encroachment is due to pollution, which is taking a toll on Lake Victoria and other water bodies,” Hon. Kasaija added.
In July this year, government abolished rice cultivation on an estimated 30-acre wetland in Otuke District in northern Uganda to dissuade farmers from cultivating in catchment areas.
Hon. Matia Kasaija presided over the ceremony which confirmed that International University of East Africa (IUEA) and the Climate Change Action East Africa (CCAEA) will oversee a two-day symposium and expo for October this year at the IUEA Kampala campus, Kansanga – Ggaba Road.
The symposium will provide a platform to create awareness of how impacts of climate change work in tandem with food security.
It will also foster a comprehensive and open debate within the food production chain and systems, with a prime aim of shielding societies in Uganda, the East African region, Africa and the world at large from famine, and other related consequences like malnutrition.
Under the theme “Linking Climate Change To Food Security, Nutrition And Wellbeing”, initiatives for resilience and adaptation which can be upgraded and reinforced in Uganda and East Africa as a region will top the agenda at the symposium and expo.
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