Four Villages Choked by Sickening Smell From Fertilizer Factory

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Angry residents of three villages of Kiryammuli, Kigoogwa and Kkungu in Gombe Division, Wakiso district, have expressed anguish over a nauseating smell emanating from a fertilizer manufacturing factory in their area, operated by M/S Dei Pharma, a company run by foreign investors.

In a meeting convened by the Mayor for Gombe Division, Ronald Kasirivu Kabembula at Kkungu Church of Uganda ground, the angry residents narrated how they have developed stomach upset problems characterized by vomiting and diarrhoea-related complications, with their children of tender ages emaciated following the sickening smell. The locals said they have been rendered penniless for spending a lot of resources in treating their impoverished children.

Some of the affected community members in a meeting.

The meeting which was attended by the Manager for Dei Pharma, Moses Kamiiza and Kasangati Division Police Commander (DPC) Moses Musinguzi among others, was informed that besides causing them suffocation, the smell attracts disease causing flies, placing their lives at risk. They claim they have made all attempts to approach Dei Pharma management to no avail.

In their complaints to the mayor, the residents say their hardships are compounded by the fact that the only source of water for their use has been adulterated by dirty water drifting from the company to this source. The water source, they say, was a fish pond but that the fish died off as a result of the dirty water.

“The development which is putting our lives at stake is not good for us; there are swarms of flies in our food, even our clothes are now smelling, and there is no rest even in bedrooms as the smell follows us day and night indiscriminately”, a resident identified as Harriet Namukasa of Kiryammuli village said.

In his take, the Mayor for Gombe Division Kasirivu Ronald Kabembula wondered how an investor begins business before getting a go-ahead from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), saying, “they have admitted that they never got an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report before starting their investment, to establish how safe their investment is to the communities”.

The Manager for Dei Pharma Moses Kamiiza admitted their fertilizer factory emits a very nasty smell, adding however that they are concerned and are working round the clock to avert the situation. He pleaded for forgiveness from the communities and gave a commitment to do away with the problem within two weeks.

The locals in a meeting.

“There is a chemical we spray to control the smell but we were conned and sold a wrong chemical, and we have placed an order for the right chemical which will soon be in the company,” Kamiiza said, explaining that being new in the fertilizer manufacturing business, they are prone to falling victims to conmen.

On how they began operating without getting an EIA report from NEMA, he said the delay is rooted in other authorities’ hands, and that they were given a promise that they would soon get the essential documentation in due course.

Mayor Kabembula said they were naming a committee to follow up Dei Pharma’s promise, while Kasangati DPC Musinguzi said police are mounting an investigation especially with regard to the health-related complaints.

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