Its Official – The Kalagala Offset will be Flooded – almost entirely! by Jessie Stone | Feb 22, 2018 | JK Team Posts, Uncategorized, Whitewater | 1 comment The Inspection Panel of the World Bank visited Uganda over the weekend of February 10th to meet with complainants and other locals and business owners who will be negatively impacted by the flooding of the Kalagala Offset. The week before, the World Bank had agreed to let the Kalagala Offset, which it had created as a protected river offset zone with the Government of Uganda, be almost entirely flooded. It is now official that all of the known rapids below Itanda and Kalagala Falls will be flooded. The question of how soon all of this will happen in still up in the air. Will it be a couple of months or more, no one seems to know at this point. Importantly, the panel spoke with affected people who stand to lose the ability to survive in a few months and have not been compensated in any way. The majority of these people are on the Busoga or east side of the Nile. The Chairman of the Inspection Panel, Gonzalo Castro de la Mata, visited Mutuumu and Nakato villages – right next to Nile Special – to speak with people and hear their concerns. Among the groups he and Brigit Kuba, an operations manager from the inspection panel, met with were sand miners, fishermen, witch doctors, and subsistence farmers. The Panel members did hear directly from the people about how they depended on the Nile in its natural state for their lives and livelihoods – even the Inspection Panel chairman, Gonzalo, agreed that they depended on the Nile for their lives. Whether or not he and the rest of the panel act to help these people be properly compensated is another matter. We will know more in early April when their report comes out. Complaints filed 2 years ago with the Inspection Panel as well as all the communication between the World Bank and concerned citizens sent to the Inspection Panel at that time were surprisingly new news to the Panel. It was puzzling that the visiting members of the Panel knew so little about all the issues at stake. There are many questions that remain because the World Bank has decided to “offset the Kalagala Offset” and let it be flooded by Isimba dam’s reservoir. No one knows exactly what it means except that the World Bank plans to shift the Offset area upstream above Kalagala and Itanda Falls. However, there is no doubt that many more people will be negatively affected. Please visit www.savethewhitenile.org and click on the petition to the World Bank – stand for those that have no voice and help them get properly compensated. 1 Comment Kiggundu Vincent on August 20, 2018 at 7:56 am Our main concern is the way how Government officials are handling the issues of Kalagala Offset, much as the ten years (2010-2019) Kalagala Offset SMP is very clear with different key players to implement it, very little is on ground. The affected communities in Kalagala village (Kangulumira Sub-county) are worried whether compensation for their land will be done in a positive way not to leave the affected communities more worse than now. A cultural centre that was supposed to be built at Kalagala villiage has never been completed much as World bank gave in money for that purpose. No investigation has been done to establish what happened. Many of the developments by different Ministries that were supposed to be implemented which include access roads, electricity, water supply etc almost nothing has been done. NEMA come with armed men to demarcate the 100m riverbank stretch and no land owners were involved, something that was seen as grabbing peoples land. This has left complaints by affected residents but NEMA has remained adamant. Much as we’re pro conservation as residents lets be involved since this developments are touching our livelihood. NEMA should come back to the affected communities for a proper explanation on how the activity was done, since we feel our land has been encroached on (ie the 100m stretch entering deep into peoples land). The Kalagala cultural site, what happened? we want an explanation, because if other developments go on the way it is, we stand to loss especially the voiceless. Thanks Reply Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ
Kiggundu Vincent on August 20, 2018 at 7:56 am Our main concern is the way how Government officials are handling the issues of Kalagala Offset, much as the ten years (2010-2019) Kalagala Offset SMP is very clear with different key players to implement it, very little is on ground. The affected communities in Kalagala village (Kangulumira Sub-county) are worried whether compensation for their land will be done in a positive way not to leave the affected communities more worse than now. A cultural centre that was supposed to be built at Kalagala villiage has never been completed much as World bank gave in money for that purpose. No investigation has been done to establish what happened. Many of the developments by different Ministries that were supposed to be implemented which include access roads, electricity, water supply etc almost nothing has been done. NEMA come with armed men to demarcate the 100m riverbank stretch and no land owners were involved, something that was seen as grabbing peoples land. This has left complaints by affected residents but NEMA has remained adamant. Much as we’re pro conservation as residents lets be involved since this developments are touching our livelihood. NEMA should come back to the affected communities for a proper explanation on how the activity was done, since we feel our land has been encroached on (ie the 100m stretch entering deep into peoples land). The Kalagala cultural site, what happened? we want an explanation, because if other developments go on the way it is, we stand to loss especially the voiceless. Thanks Reply
