Quoting the famous Pulitzer Center & Crisis report (entitled Sand Mining: The global environmental crisis you have probably never heard of)”, Senior President Advisor on media Mzee John Nagenda makes known his strong opposition to Gen Salim Saleh’s advocacy to have the Chinese Company Mango Tree carry on with sand mining in Lake Victoria. In his newspaper column, he states that sand mining (he calls it dredging) “can cause wildlife to die, local trading to wither, bridges to collapse and disappear.”
Quoting from the same report, Nagenda notes that: “The dredging destroys fish breeding grounds, leading to fewer and fewer fish to be found.” He then presents an extract from the report: “All around the world, riverbeds and beaches were being stripped bare and farmland and forests torn up to get at the precious grains of sand.” Nagenda adds that: “Closer to us in Kenya sand dredging was being stopped before further harm.” He says all this detail is contained in the Pulitzer report adding that: “Already in Uganda photos of these hideously huge monster vessels have already been seen, maybe cast-offs from China. How can the hunger of profit in the pocket have moved so fast so that destruction and havoc can be wrecked before the population cries out when the damage is already done?” he wonders before advising that: “Government of Uganda to which the vast majority of Ugandans pays homage must come to the aid of its current and future populations on this matter.” Nagenda says the Pulitzer report is a gold mine to those who wish to understand the dangers Mango Tree’s destructive sand mining poses.
GOES AFTER SALEH:
Nagenda confesses that on hearing Saleh’s views, defensive of sand-mining, he “started panicking” in disbelief. In his piece, the celebrated writer poses direct question to Gen Saleh and those thinking like him on this matter: “How on earth do you dredge for sand without obliterating [things like] fish, flora & fauna)?” He persuasively argues that “in the lakes live fish, a source of wonderful food for Ugandans, with the surplus being sold for the mighty dollar to help Uganda’s inflow of foreign exchange.” He argues that whereas “our friend the Bush War Hero [referring to Gen Saleh]” is genuinely concerned about youth unemployment and thinks permitting sand dredging by Mango Tree will result into job creation, his efforts to help the jobless youths lead a decent life will most likely end up creating “a bigger problem.” He says: “On the other hand, Uganda needs to build in every direction including roads and buildings of every direction.” He specifically warns Gen Saleh and like-minded fellows as follows: “It starts off almost innocently but before you know it, you have been overtaken by a crisis of immense proportions very difficult to stop.” Suspecting that Saleh’s views on this matter must have been influenced by the Chinese, Nagenda observes that even in China, important water bodies and generally the environment didn’t have to be destroyed for the millions of jobs to be created. For comments on this & other Mulengera news stories, reach us on 0703164755!
