The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has started evicting encroachers on Lubigi swamp in Wakiso district.
On Tuesday, a joint task force comprising officials from the Police Environment Protection Unit, National Environment Management Authority, and KCCA among other agencies started destroying all structures and plantations in the wetland.
Bulldozers demolished kiosks, eateries, taxi stages, and food stalls by bulldozers. Traffic flow was also paralyzed on Mityana road with vehicles heading to Mityana moving at snail’s pace right from Busega roundabout up to Bulenga Township.
Crowds of people who have been operating in the area as well as passers-by were standing on both sides of the road thus contributing to the traffic gridlock.
Tree nursery beds, eucalyptus trees, yams, and cattle grass planted in the swamp were also destroyed. Timber structures and furniture shops are now a picture of their former self.
Encroachers who had established the illegal structures were seen pleading with the NEMA team to allow them to first sell what they had prepared in vain.
Some people who have been operating retail shops in structures in permanent buildings on Lubigi wetlands hastily removed their merchandise to protect them from being destroyed by the bulldozers.
Environmentalists have repeatedly warned against the continued encroachment on Lubigi wetland. Since 2011, several groups of people including veterans, Uganda Patriotic Voluntary Organisation, and residents have been encroaching on the wetland.