THE FAILED FIGHT AGAINST BUSH BURNING; ADJUMANI DISTRICT LEADERS SPEAK OUT!
By Debo Ronald – Adjumani.
5th March 2024 – Authorities of Adjumani district call for immediate withdrawal of communities from acts of burning bushes
Authorities in Adjumani district have called on residents of the district to desist from burning bushes.
Bush burning is the practice of setting fire to vegetation,r intentionally or accidentally.
It is a common practice in the Adjumani district, especially during the dry season.
Some people do bush burning to prepare land for farming, others grow green pasture for animal feed and others go hunting.
In the process, property, which includes; food crops in gardens, houses, and animals, gets destroyed, even when human beings get burned.
Environmentalists and local leaders warn of the dire consequences of this action at the current time and in the years to come.
Charles Giyaya, the Natural Resources Officer of the district local government, says it is a cultural practice that destroys the ecosystem, resulting in climate change thus affecting livelihoods and it is high time residents denounced the practice.
Giyaya appeals to leaders to be able to enforce the district Ordinance about the protection of natural resources and the environment in a bid to minimize and eventually stamp out the vice.
The Secretary of Finance of the district local government, Adrupio Irene Appi says they always sensitize communities about the dangers of bush burning but she attributes the continued uncontrolled bush burning in the district to the rigid mindset of the people that burning bushes clears way for farming and gives way to fresh green grass for animal feed.
The council of Adjumani district local government passed Ordinance on protection of natural resources and the environment, sanctioned by the government lawyer some years ago.
But Richard Kaijuka Arthur the Vice chairman of the district local government says there is a challenge in enforcing the Ordinance.
According to Kaijuka, the local communities do not want to disclose names of persons who set on fire bushes for fear of generating conflicts making enforcement of the Ordinance to catch up with offenders to face the rough of the law difficult.
However, once the challenge is addressed and the Ordinance is enforced without fear or favor, the district will become free of bush burning.