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BIDCO Gets Bugala Island Forest Land
New Vision (Kampala)
September 15, 2005
By Gerald Tenywa
Kampala
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has directed that four of the forest reserves on Bugala Island in Kalangala be used to cultivate palm trees.
This follows a recent meeting during which BIDCO, a palm oil company, complained to Museveni that the pieces of land that they had been offered on the mainland had sandy soil and were unsuitable for growing palm trees due to poor rainfall.
Museveni consequently ordered the Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi, to implement the directive, according to a letter dated August 5.
Nsibambi, agriculture state minister Kibirige Sebunya and the BIDCO investors resolved that: "Central forest reserves on the island of Kalangala, namely Mugoye, Banya, Nkoma and Towa, be availed for palm oil plantations."
Last month, it was decided that the National Environment Manage-ment Authority (NEMA) and the National Forestry Authority (NFA) undertake an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
However, the NFA has opposed the change of land use of the protected areas, saying earlier studies had shown that the reserves were ecologically sensitive areas.
"Forest reserves were considered prior to the establishment of the palm project, but were ruled out as unsuitable due to their environmental and biodiversity values," said Olav Bjella, the NFA chief.
BIDCO fronted a proposal about three years ago to degazette five of the forest reserves on Bugala, but the conservation partners put pressure on the Government to maintain the reserves, which have an overwhelming potential to support eco-tourism.
BIDCO has so far received 6,519 hectares of land on Bugala and has cleared 4,500 hectares in the past year.
They were promised 10,000 hectares by the Government.
~~~~~~~~
Q & A:
Q: Who owns BIDCO? A: Kenya's Total Man -- one Nicholas Biwott (never mind the smoke screen of it being owned by some Asian).
Q: Was a feasibility study carried out as to the suitability of Ssese Islands to grow palm trees from oil?
A: Your guess is as good as mine.
Q: Who were the intended beneficiaries of the Palm Oil Scheme which is funded by a LOAN?
A: Small farmers who were supposed to grow the crop -- according to available ink.
Q: So, why did the govt instead use the loan money (over $60Million) to "buy out" the same farmers -- making them landless in the long run -- instead of teaching them how to grow the crop?
A: Kulembeka, Kulembeka ... See, after the scheme fails in the not too distant future, certain individuals will be the "owners" of the resort-suitable land; AND, the stupid pizanti will still have to repay the loan that made them landless in the first place. Now, thats Financial Engineering 101. Talk about helping robber barons rob you!
Did I mention that there is a lot of mulla riding on this here sad term?
fyi:
The population of Kalangala District has been doubling every 10 years: 8,575 in 1980; 16,371 in 1991; to 34,766 in 2002 -- from inmigration.
Yahoo! for Good
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