Two investors plead guilty to degrading Lwajjali wetland

The Standards, Wildlife and Utilities Chief Magistrate Court in Makindye has remanded two developers to Luzira Prison over degrading wetlands.

Kerim Ray and Eric Avunalo were charged with violating the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) conditions stipulated by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and of depositing marram into Lwajjali Wetland.

Both pleaded guilty to the charges and have been remanded until July 15 when the court will read their conviction.

Ray, the director of Turkish company Yaman Construction Ltd, and Avunalo, the manager of Rockbuild Ltd, a contractor for site clearing, were apprehended on June 30.

They were found backfilling Lwajjali Wetland in Gongobe Village, Goma Division, Sseeta Parish, Mukono Municipality in Mukono District.

Yaman Construction Ltd, a concrete products manufacturing factory, had been issued an ESIA certificate (No. NEMA/EIA/18516) on June 14th, 2024, in accordance with the National Environment Act No.5 of 2019.

The certificate was intended for concrete manufacturing, not for backfilling wetlands.

Backfilling a wetland is a criminal offense under the National Environment Act.

A person found guilty of such an offense faces a fine of up to thirty thousand currency points or imprisonment for up to twelve years, or both.