A wire mesh set under one of the bridges on River Mpanga in Fort Portal Town to block plastic bottles and other waste as one of the ways of keeping the river free of pollution. PHOTOS BY FELIX BASIIME
According
to Edgar Muganzi, the coordinator of Natural Resources Defence Initiatives, the
plan involves replacement of eucalyptus trees upstream with more appropriate
trees like Grevillia robusta
(http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/River-Mpanga-pollution-leaves-residents-thirsty/688334-3465154-7t4nbuz/index.html)
SATURDAY
NOVEMBER 26 2016
In Summary
·
River Mpanga is the main source of
water for the people around it.
·
Saturday Monitor’s Felix Basiime
explores how pollution of the river is affecting the livelihood of those who
depend on it.
·
Of late, the ministry of Water and
Environment, in partnership with Protos, has stepped up measures to save and
protect river Mpanga.
By Felix Basiime
George Akuguzibwe is a sand and stone miner in the hilly
Karangura areas in Kabarole District. He is the chairman of Karangura Stone
Quarry, a group of 50 members mining stones and sand upstream of River Mpanga.
“We have been in this business since 1990, through which I have managed to
educate my children,” he proudly says. Akuguzibwe thinks his job is solving a
bigger problem that people face during the rainy season.
“During the mining, we de-silt (scooping sand in the river)
the river and this stops it from bursting its banks during the rainy season,”
he explains.
Asked whether he and his colleagues know that what they are doing is affecting
the river, especially the flora and fauna downstream, Akuguzibwe says: “Yes, we
know, but government does not help us. If government gives us an alternative
economic activity, we can abandon this one.”
River Mpanga flows from the Rwenzori mountains through the districts of
Kabarole, Kyenjojo and Kamwenge and then feeds into Lake George.
However, during the rainy season, the colour of the
water from the river turns dark brown as a result of siltation due to sand and
stone mining on its banks upstream in Karangura.
“River Mpanga is the major source of water for people around it, including
National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) and once the river is polluted,
people who use its water for drinking risk getting water-borne diseases such as
cholera and typhoid,” Lieven Peeters, the coordinator of Protos, an NGO, says.
Protos and Natural Resources Defence Initiatives (NRDI) are non-governmental
organisations dedicated to better water management.
Officials at NWSC plant in Fort Portal say in the last six years, water
treatment costs have tripled as they use more chemicals than before to purify
the water, according to Denis Muramuzi, the NWSC Fort Portal branch manager.
NWSC has more than 7,000 water connections (households) in
Fort Portal town alone and of late, consumers have complained of the colour of
the water pumped into their homes.
Nyakato Rusoke, a resident of Fort Portal Town, recently shared her frustration
about the quality of the water with the public when she posted on social media:
“I collected water from a tap this early morning and I thought I would use it
to prepare breakfast. What I saw defeated my understanding! Why should
consumers part with their hard earned money to pay for such dirty water? In my
lay man’s view, this water is not fit to even be used in a toilet, because it
will leave it stained! I have observed this for some time.”
The source area in the Rwenzori mountains is currently
under high pressure mainly due to deforestation on the slopes. Loss of tree
cover is leading to important changes in the river bank characteristics and has
started to impact on the river itself.
“Loss of tree cover upstream causes run off that results into siltation of the
river and the lake downstream,” observes Peeters.
He adds: “Of recent, there has been an increase in the number permanent houses
near the river, car washing bays, sand mining activities, brick laying and crop
production on the river beds, all of which cause silting of the river.”
In Fort Portal Town, washing bays have been established just 20 metres from the
river banks as opposed to the recommended 200 metres.
This allows oils and other chemicals from the vehicles to
pour into the river, thereby contaminating the water.
Pit-latrines at Mpanga Market in Fort Portal Town were constructed along the
river, allowing faecal matter to spill directly into the river whenever it
rains, making the water unfit for consumption.
The degradation of the river is also threatening the power production at the
Mpanga hydropower plant downstream at Mpanga Falls as water levels fluctuate.
Lake George at the downstream faces several serious threats related to the
rivers flowing into it and the management of its fisheries resource.
Residents of all fishing villages around Lake George
say the water level of the lake has been going down over the years.
Nicholas Kabagambe, the secretary of Kayinja Beach Management Unit at Lake
George, says: “The fish breading grounds at the shores of Lake George have been
affected due to siltation, so we are have been experiencing less fish catch
over the last three or so years.”
Victoria Birungi who sells fish at Katunguru Trading Centre in Kasese District,
shares the same story.
“In the past (2011), I used to buy between 200 and 300 fresh fish from the
landing sites but now I get just between 30 and 50 fish because of pollution of
the fish breeding grounds on Lake George,” she says.
Interventions
Of late, the ministry of Water and Environment, in
partnership with Protos, has stepped up measures to save and protect river
Mpanga. The authorities prepared a catchment management plan (CMP), which aims
at creating public awareness on the importance of conserving the environment.
According to Edgar Muganzi, the coordinator of Natural Resources Defence
Initiatives, the plan involves replacement of eucalyptus trees upstream with
more appropriate trees like Grevillia robusta.
“We are replacing eucalyptus trees with fruit trees,
sensitising communities, regulating washing bays and demarcating the buffer
zones,” he says.
Fort Portal Municipal Council has also launched alternative packaging materials
in order to stop polluting the river with polythene bags.
The Water ministry has also formed Albert Water
Management Zone as one of the initiatives to save the river Its team leader, Mr
Albert Orijabo, says: “Some interventions upstream include sorting waste and
conservation preparations of tree nursery beds and sensitising the
communities.”
He adds: “Downstream in Kamwenge District, we have established
fish ponds in Mutamba wetland to protect the Mutamba wetland system with the aim
of enticing the communities to see the wetland as a resource.”
However, the Kabarole District environment
officer, Godfrey Ruyonga, says law enforcement and monitoring, among other
interventions to protect River Mpanga, have been affected by politics.
“There
is a lot of political interference that brings down enforcement, especially in
the upstream area. Some politicians advise people against giving up sand
mining,” he says.
